No Ordinary Dog
by AlfieTimewolf
Summary: The Doctor and his two companions, Amy and Rory, land on a planet where the King is corrupt. What happens when the Doctor sees something that doesn't belong there? Something he might recognise. 11th/OC
1. Krypton 4

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German sheppard, I own all the rights to her. I also own the description and idea for Krypton 4.

**Warning** I wrote this after drinking three cans of Diet Coke and two cans of Red Bull.

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><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter One **- **Krypton 4**

"Here we are," a man spoke as he stood out of a blue box, on the sides of it were written 'Police Box'. He was wearing a brown tweed jacket, brown trousers, black shoes, a white shirt, red braces were clipped to his trousers and stretched up over his shoulders beneath the jacket, black shoes and a scarlet red bow-tie. The grass beneath his shoes and all around him for miles was blue, a few shades lighter than the box he had stepped out of. "Hurry up, Pond."

"Alright, Doctor, keep your bow-tie on." A young woman with ginger hair stepped out beside the man clad in blue jeans, a black shirt and a dark purple jacket.

"Where's Rory?" the bow-tie man, Doctor asked the ginger haired female.

"I'm here, I'm here," a young man stepped out as well, he pulled on a dark orange body warmer over his grey hoodie. "I was brushing my teeth."

"Of course you were," the Doctor agreed with the young man, Rory as he rolled his eyes and closed the door to the blue box and locked it. "The TARDIS should be safe out here. Now, let's go find some people."

"Where are we?" the ginger haired woman asked the Doctor as she caught up with him.

"Amy, wait up!" Rory said as he ran to catch up with the pair.

"We are on Krypton 4, a planet in the Xenon galaxy. Very cool, they have three moons here," the Doctor informed his two companions as he looked up at the white (not blue) sky dotted with thin red (not white) clouds. High up in the sky above them burned the planet's sun, a beautiful light emerald green.

"If the sun's green, why isn't everything else?" asked Rory as he glanced up at said sun.

"Your sun is yellow, why isn't everything else? Because they're actually burning white. The gases that are keeping this sun from going out are green, so it burns green," the Doctor explained to him as he lifted his wrist up and looked at his watch. "It's around the… 93rd Century, I think. Give or take a couple hundred years."

As the trio continued to walk, a city rose up in front of them. The ground was paved with white bricks, the shop buildings were pale colours of blue and red. There were only a few dozen people out and about; to the entrance of the city stood two statues carved out of stone. They were both around thirty or forty feet in height and both very different from one another.

The one on the left was carved from a deep navy blue stone, in each of it's hands was a long vertical shield. The statue also had the head of a wolf, it's eyes carved as they looked like they were glaring as it's snout was etched into a fearsome snarl.

The one on the right was carved from a dark forest green rock with flecks of shimmering black stones, both hands held small rodent-like animals while a stone parrot perched on the statue's shoulder. Unlike the one beside it, this statue had a human head.

The Doctor walked over to the blue statue and read what was carved into the base of it.

"Tyacarni, God of Protection." the Doctor read aloud to his two companions.

"Myanacco, God of Animals." Amy read the base of the green statue.

The trio looked down the street after hearing an outraged shout of anger, a white furred dog was trotting down the paved street towards them, it's head held high and between it's jaws was a thick loaf of red bread.

"Stupid mutt! I said get back here!" a heavy based man snapped, out of breath as he struggled to keep up with the dog - which was trotting teasingly close in front of him. When he made a grab for it, the dog sped up again. The man stopped and leaned over, his hands clasped firmly around his knees as he sucked air in greedily.

"She shouldn't be here," the Doctor gestured towards the dog. "German Sheppard, an Earth breed."

"She?" Amy questioned as she watched the German Sheppard stop a few feet in front of them and sit down.

"Yes, it's a she." the Doctor replied, noticing that the female Sheppard had a red leather collar around her neck with silver-coloured tags.

Suddenly, a young boy appeared kneeling beside the white furred animal, his hair was a light violet colour and his clothes were a bit shabby. The dog seemed to wink at them as the boy hit something on his wrist and grabbed her red collar, they disappeared with a sparking sound.

"That was weird, I wonder what she's doing here… Earth is three galaxies away," the Doctor thought aloud as he made his way over to the man that had been chasing her. "Hello, I'm the Doctor-"

"I don't need a doctor." the man snapped as he stood up straight, towering over the Doctor by a good few inches.

"I'm not that kind of Doctor." He replied, laughing lightly.

"I need help stopping that mutt from feeding those exiles." the man snarled angrily.

"Exiles?" Amy asked, studying the man and finally noticing that he had blue hair. "Was that boy an exile?"

"Yes, and if the three of you were from around here, you would be put into exile as well." the man told them.

"But why? We didn't do anything wrong." Rory questioned, they had barely set foot on the planet ten minutes ago.

"Your hair is brown. So is yours," the man looked at the Doctor and then at Amy. "Your hair is orange. These aren't the colours of the people from here. Mixing colours is forbidden and wrong."

"I still don't understand." Rory looked at the man, waiting for a better explanation.

"There are four kinds of bloodline here; the blue, the red, the white and the green bloodlines. These are the bloodlines we are proud to be of and keep pure. But if someone from the red bloodline conceives a child from the blue bloodline, the child will have mixed blood and sentenced to exile," the man explained, running his big hands through his own short blue hair. "Some children are just born with different hair, it's very uncommon, but it happens a few times a year."

"Where do they go? The Children I mean." The Doctor asked, curious about how the Sheppard had ended up on the planet. He felt as if he recognised the animal, but he couldn't remember where from.

"When a child like that is born, an older exile comes and collects the child," the man informed the Doctor. "We don't just through them out of the city for wild animals to eat them. We give them a chance first."

"Where does the dog fit into all this? She doesn't belong here." The Doctor asked again, he had thought the man would have mentioned her.

"I know she doesn't belong here, we don't own canines like that. She just appeared a few moons ago, completely out of the blue. She had this black watch thing in her mouth," the man continued to explain to the three. "That's how the exiles get food now, they use that damn watch thing."

"Thank you for your help." the Doctor told the man, who nodded his head and walked away from them, entering a shop and disappearing from their view.

"So, what's the black watch thing he was talking about? I know you know." Amy stated as she looked at the Doctor.

"He said black watch. So somehow this dog has gotten a hold of a Vortex Manipulator. Unless she isn't a dog, I'm not entirely sure yet," the Doctor answered, straightening his bow-tie. He swirled around on the ball of his foot and walked back the way they had just came. "She doesn't belong here, and neither does the Vortex Manipulator. We need to find both of them."

"But how do we find them? The could be anywhere." Amy reminded the Doctor.

"Easy, the TARDIS can trace the coordination of the Vortex Manipulator, and since it should be the only one of this planet, that makes it all the more simple." the Doctor grinned as they reached the TARDIS and he unlocked the door. Rory stepped in last and closed the door behind him. The blue box began to dematerialise, it made an odd noise, like something crossed between a sucking sound and a sonicing noise before it vanished completely.

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><p>Right, tell me what you think. Good? Bad? Should I continue?<p>

**Krypton 4** - Krypton, as well as it being the planet were Superman was born, is also an element in the elemental table. Which is where I got it from.

**Xenon Galaxy **- Xenon is also an element in the elemental table.

**Tyacarni, God of Protection **- There is no such god, I made him up, so don't bother searching for him on Google. (Pronunciation; Tie-a-car-knee)

**Myanacco, God of Animals **- There is no such god as this either, I also created him, so don't Google him either. (Pronunciation; My-ah-nah-co)


	2. Den of the Exiles

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German sheppard, I own all the rights to her. I own the idea of the Darklands and Shade Eon & Shade Krystal.

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><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter two** - **Den of the Exiles**

The TARDIS materialised in front of the mouth of a cave, unlike everything else on the planet, it was made from rock as black as space.

The Doctor poked his floppy brown haired head through the TARDIS' front door and looked around, immediately spotting the cave opening.

"Stay close, and be quiet." the Doctor told Amy and Rory as they stepped out of the TARDIS and the Doctor closed the door before slipping his Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket.

The Doctor entered the cave first, the green light from the Sonic Screwdriver showing them a little of what lies ahead, Amy followed right behind him and Rory behind her. The cave soon disappeared, it was another few minutes before an orange light glowed from around a corner.

"We don't know if these exiles are armed or not, so let's not make any loud noise. Or let them know we're here yet." the Doctor the two curious humans.

The Doctor stopped at the corner and peered round it carefully, the light was coming from a camp fire in the middle of the wide area, several tunnels were carved out all around the sides, leading to a dozen other rooms. Sitting close to the fire was the purple haired boy from earlier, sitting beside him was the white Sheppard, she seemed to be guarding the young boy. The air caught in the Doctor's throat as the Sheppard turned her head and stared directly at him, he thought for sure she was going to start barking and howling to alarm the others, but she didn't. The Doctor watched as she gently pulled the boy's sleeve, wanting him to get up, she never broke eye-contact with him.

"Bedtime already?" the boy whined, but stood up nonetheless and wrapped his thin fingers around her red collar. "But Alfie, you promised you'd tell me a story about you adventures!"

The white Sheppard, Alfie looked up at the boy and they seemed to talk without words, possibly telepathically?

"Fine then," the boy huffed lightly as he stumbled slightly alongside Alfie, his other arm was outstretched, feeling blindly through the air in case there was something he would bump into, but the dog by his side kept him safely away from the walls. "I want a really good adventure tomorrow though."

The boy started talking about another planet as he was lead down one of the tunnels, his voice echoed for a moment before silence fell. The wood in the fire crackled and glowed, casting shadows that danced against the cave walls to the fire's dying song.

"Doctor, what are you waiting for?" Amy whispered as she looked around the Doctor into the empty space. "The coast is clear, why are we still hiding?"

"Because of her." he motioned to Alfie, who had just returned and was now sitting with the fire to her back, waiting for them to come out.

"She's just a dog." Rory piped up, looking around Amy at said animal.

"We'll see," the Doctor said as he stepped out slowly, his hands held up in surrender with his palms on display, showing her that he wasn't holding any weapon. Carefully, as not to provoke her, he crouched down slowly in front of her. That was when he spotted her dog tags again, silver in colour and they shimmered from the fire light. He made a small gesture towards the tags. "May I?"

The Doctor watched as Alfie stood up straight, her head up fully, which lifted her collar up along with the tags.

"Thank you," the Doctor said politely as he reached out and lifted the tags into his hand, the metal was cold against his skin. There were three tags altogether; one had the name 'Alfie Giles' etched into the metal, one was curiously blank, and the last one caught his attention the most. The Doctor studied it with interest as he read it, 'Licensed Time Traveller', he turned the round tag over to see 'Authorised by the Shadow Proclamation' carved into the back. "Very interesting indeed."

Alfie pulled her head back, slipping the tags from the Doctor's hand. He stayed crouched in front of her and she stayed seated.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor." he introduced himself, sticking a hand out for her. He grinned widely as she placed one of her paws on to his palm, he shook it gently before letting go and standing up. Not a moment later did he hear growling, but he noticed it wasn't Alfie growling at him. Standing behind her at the entrance to an opening opposite to where they were stood a large purple and red furred dog, it looked similar to a Great Dane, but with longer fur and a bulkier build. Around it's neck was a white piece of cloth, acting as a sort of collar. It's snout was pulled back into a snarl as it glared at the Doctor, who stepped back so that he was standing in front of Amy and Rory.

The other dog's eyes were a blazing red colour, it's ears were alert and it was crouched low, ready to start sprinting towards them. It took off with the speed of a bullet, kicking up dust behind it. The Doctor scrunched his eyes closed and braced himself for the blow, but instead heard a loud yelp and a tearing sound before hearing something hit the rock wall. He opened his eyes to see Alfie standing protectively in front of them, her hackles raised dangerously as she watched the other dog. It stood up and shook it's head before looking her way, the great brute didn't seem so fearsome now that he'd take a beating.

Alfie stepped forward, the other dog stepped back. She growled angrily, the other dog whimpered pathetically. That was when she leaped at the other dog, who took off down one of the other tunnels like a rabbit. The Doctor seen a large patch of red down Alfie's side and watched as the White Sheppard sank her muzzle into the side of the other dog before they disappeared into the darkness, yelps and howls of pain followed.

"She protected us," Amy was the first to speak, stepping out from behind the Doctor, Rory stepped out to his other side. "Maybe we should go."

Their conversation was interrupted by surprised and panicked shouts, and even a few squeals of terror.

"Separate them!" A voice commanded. "We can't have them killing each other!"

The howls and yelps stopped immediately, the shouts and screams took a bit longer to die down. A few moments later, Alfie reappeared from out of the tunnel and shook her fur loose, she trotted around the fire and sat down beside it. A woman emerged from the same tunnel and went to stand beside Alfie. Her hair was the colour of the fire, streaks of blond ran through it, her eyes were green and her skin was slightly tanned.

"Welcome strangers, state your business or leave," the woman told them politely, resting her hand on the top of Alfie's head, she sat stiffly between the fire and the woman. "I have enough mouths to try and feed without three more."

"Well, curiosity more than anything. Anyway, I'm the Doctor, and this is Amy and Rory," the Doctor gestured to them as they stood on either side of him. "The last time I was here, the exiles were allowed to stay in the city."

"Doctor, that was over three hundred years ago, and you do not appear that old." the woman softly laughed bitterly.

"So what changed then? Why were the exiles banished to the Darklands?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"A new Shade took over the thrown three centuries ago and changed many laws, he also added some, one of them was that exiles were forbidden to enter the city," the woman continued, subconsciously stroking Alfie's head softly. "This has been our home since he took the thrown away from Shade Eon."

"Shade?" Rory asked. "What is that? Like another colour? Or a rank or something?"

"Shade. King, Kaiser, Emperor. Take your pick. Shade is this planet's equivalent to a ruler," the Doctor explained, not taking his eyes off of the woman. "Sorry, never caught your name."

"Scarlet Rose Flame, the Second." the woman told him proudly, not noticing that he flinched slightly at the name Rose.

"Where does the Shade live now?" the Doctor asked.

"Shade Krystal lives in the Palace at the heart of the City," Scarlet informed them. "You'll need a guide to reach the palace, the streets are like mazes. Running all over the place will only get you lost."

"Where might we find a volunteer to guide us?" the Doctor smiled politely.

"All of our dogs know the routes to and from the Palace, you are free to choose whichever one you wish as a guide," Scarlet offered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just make sure to return them safely."

"We choose her." the Doctor pointed at Alfie, whose ears pricked up immediately.

Scarlet was about to protest to his choice when she watched Alfie step across and stand beside the Doctor.

"Fine then, you may take her," Scarlet sighed heavily, looking from the Doctor down to Alfie. "Go and get your watch."

Alfie nodded her head before briskly trotting down the tunnel where she had led the purple haired boy from before, she returned seconds later with the watch in her jaws.

"Excellent," the Doctor clasped his hands together as a wide toothy smile grew on his face. "A Vortex Manipulator, now, if I could just-"

Alfie growled and the Doctor jumped back in surprise, he had crouched down to take the device from her, but obviously she had different ideas.

"Alfie is very protective of her belongings, that watch is the only thing she owns," Scarlet told the Doctor. "She won't let anyone touch it."

"But that boy was wearing it," Amy remembered, back in the City he had pressed something on his wrist and it had zapped them away. "The one with the purple hair."

"Granger is a special acceptation. He was born blink, and up until Alfie arrived a few moons ago, had been alone for a while. The other children won't play with him, they don't have the patience to wait," Scarlet described the boy, and why he was a special case. "Alfie took responsibility for him. She helps him around the place, to bed, with chores, getting food, and post importantly, has given him a friend."

"Yes, I see your point," the Doctor nodded his head in understanding. "Is he telepathic in any way? Can he talk in your head?"

"No, not that I know of. Our people don't have any abilities, Doctor." Scarlet rolled her eyes at the odd question.

"Right, sorry about that. I must have been mistaken." the Doctor watched as Alfie's ears fell, she knew he'd caught her. Some shape-shifters could use telepathy, so she was no ordinary dog after all. The Doctor was curious as to why she wasn't shifting into her human form, either because she wouldn't, or for some reason, couldn't

"Alfie is one of the best at sneaking into the Palace, you make sure to shadow her. The Shade's guards are fast and strong, but not that bright," Scarlet warned the Doctor and his two companions. "Those brutes are killers, they're deadly foe."

The Doctor nodded his head and crouched slightly so that he could reach down and wrap his fingers around Alfie's collar, her fur was so soft, it had a smooth fluffy feeling to it.

"Hold on tightly to her collar, and I'll warn you now, Vortex travel can be pretty unpleasant the first time," the Doctor warned, but smiled widely in excitement. Amy grabbed the other side of the collar and Rory gingerly held the back of the collar. "Off we go."

Alfie winked at Scarlet - who shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully - before biting down on the warp button and zapping the little group to the Kryptonian Palace.


	3. Long live the Shade

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German sheppard, I own all the rights to her. I own Shade Eon & Shade Krystal, Krypton 4 and the Creature.

**Author's Note** Thanks to JForward, who pointed out my mistake of mispelling the word alley in this chapter - so I've edited it.

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><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter three **-** Long live the Shade**

The group landed as quietly as someone who had just been warped through space could; which wasn't very quiet at all, but not loud enough to be noticed. In fact, the only thing that seemed to notice their appearance was a sapphire furred cat, who watched them with disinterest for a few seconds before standing up and padding off.

Alfie was the first to recover from the space warp, she move forward a bit and as she did, the joints in her spine popped and cracked loudly. The Doctor moved his neck and it popped as well, the same happening to Amy and Rory as they moved, both wincing at the unpleasant feeling. But the Doctor and Alfie had used Vortex Manipulators before, and so it didn't bother them as much as it did the two humans.

They were in an alley way, a dark and empty alley way. An alley way that during the day would have glowed red and blue as the sun's light reflected off of the bricks and striped the alley in rainbows of colour. It now seemed darker and danker than the den the Exiles had been using as a home for the past three Centuries.

Alfie was standing at the opening of the alley way, her white fur pressed against the side of the wall as she looked around the corner carefully, trying to see if the coast was clear so that they could move. She looked over her shoulder towards the trio before stepping out of the alley way with the grace of a professional thief. The Doctor quickly strode after her, with Amy and Rory running to keep up with the two. They slipped into another alley way, and the Doctor made sure to keep their white furred guide in his sight.

Scarlet had been right about the City, indubitably right about the City and its maze of streets. One street would lead to another, which would branch out into three, which would then lead to another two, and so on. But Alfie slipped from one alley way into another with confident ease, leading the Doctor and his companions closer and closer towards the centre of the City, and closer towards the Shade's palace.

"Are we almost there?" the Doctor asked Alfie as they stopped to rest in the protection of a shadowed alley way. Amy and Rory were trying to catch their breath leaning on one side of the alley while the Doctor stood opposite them on the other side. Alfie turned her head towards the Doctor.

'It isn't too far now.' He heard a voice reply in his head, it was female and the accent sounded quite familiar – British. So she was a Shape-Shifter after all, and she had originally been on Earth before Krypton 4.

"Right, come on you two, we're almost there." The Doctor encouraged the couple as he pushed off of the wall and walked towards Alfie. He heard Rory sigh heavily, but he was grabbed by Amy and dragged after the Time lord. They were quickly on the move again, but only for a few minutes this time as they were soon stopped by Alfie.

Down the street they had been about to run out into was a monster of a man with buzz-cut crimson hair wearing a green uniform; he was pacing up and down the street. That was when the Doctor noticed that directly opposite them was their destination; the Shade's home. A luxurious palace of deep rich green stones, the windows however were tinted blue and placed in white frames.

Before either the Doctor or his companions could respond, Alfie had jumped out into the middle of the street and barked loudly at the guard.

The guard swung his head around and spotted Alfie, he lifted the weapon he had in his hands up and pointed it towards her, "You!" – He snapped angrily, his face twisting into an angry snarl before changing into a triumphant smirk. "I have orders to kill you on sight. How unlucky for you."

Alfie barked again at him before turning tail and trotting the other way down the street, and the guard flew into an enraged sprint after the dog, weapon at the ready.

"What is she doing?" Amy almost shouted as she tried to run after Alfie, but the Doctor grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

"Because she's being a distraction to give us time to get in," the Doctor told her as he grabbed Rory and threw them both ahead of him towards the front gate; he followed quickly behind them up to the gate, which he unlocked sonically and slipped inside. Standing at the front door to the palace was another guard, same buzz-cut and uniform, but with blue hair this time. The Doctor took out his Psychic Paper and held it up for the guard to inspect. "We're here to the Shade."

"Of course sir," the Guard bowed his head as he opened the front door and lead them inside. The inside was just as rich in colour as the outside; lush blue tapestries hung from the green walls and a warm red carpet ran down the middle of the green marble floor, leading them to a pair of pale green doors. The Guard pulled one open and waited patiently for the three to walk past before walking in himself. The room was enormous and at the very far side sat a pure white throne; sitting in the throne was a man in his early thirties with ghost white hair and eyes the colour of storm clouds. "Shade Krystal, may I present Sir Doctor of TARDIS, Lady Amy of Earth, and Lady Amy's servant, Rory."

"Welcome to my kingdom, I am Shade Ghost Frost Krystal the eighth," the Shade introduced himself properly, waving a hand in a gesture for them to move closer. "Only people who are guided here find the palace, unless I send for them. How did you find my palace on your own?"

The Doctor watched as Shade Krystal's fingers tightened on the arms of the throne, and could hear the faint sound of joints popping. The Shade's lightly tanned skin flushed pale white as his nostrils flared.

"Well, it was quite easy actually. We bumped into the Exiles that were banished to the Darklands, lovely leader, very nice woman," the Doctor replied, slipping his hands into his jacket pockets and listened as the Shade growled in fury. "She was kind enough to lend us a dog to guide us here."As if on cue, the doors behind them swung open and in padded Alfie, her white fur covered in large splotches of red, but thankfully she didn't appear to be bleeding anymore.

"Ah, here she is now, Shade Krystal, I'd like you to meet Alfie-" The Doctor started to introduce their furry guide.

"I know who she is!" the Shade hissed angrily, a snarl etched into his face as he glared at Alfie with a mixture of hate and disgust. "You foul beast! You stupid exile worthy mutt! How-"

"I think that's quite enough." the Doctor interrupted and pulled his Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket and held it up towards the king. The end of it glowed green as the Doctor pressed a button.

The Shade began to fade, like a TV channel would go when the antenna couldn't find a signal. The Doctor put the Sonic Screwdriver back into his pocket. Sitting where the Shade had seconds ago was a small, bony, purple skinned creature with yellow clawed hands and beady orange eyes."There, that's better. Hello then," the Doctor smiled towards the creature, who was crouching on the throne - he really stuck out against the white. "You definitely don't belong here.""I would never belong on this filthy planet!" the purple creature roared angrily, his eyes never leaving the Doctor. "Filthy, filthy planet! The people here are even worse! Stupid filthy population!"

"Why did you come here then?" the Doctor asked, it didn't make much sense to stay in a place you didn't like, so why had he stayed?

"These people are stupid, but they can be very loyal. Easy to control. But the Exiles were sticking their noses into my business. Had to get rid of them," the Creature informed the Time lord, telling him the plan he had made. His eyes shifted behind the Doctor and Co. towards Alfie, who hadn't moved from the entrance. "Then she appeared, almost ruined everything! Kept getting into the Palace, sniffing about! But she had a Vortex Manipulator, and my plan slipped into place."

Alfie moved forward towards the trio and the purple skinned Creature, her paws making hollow thumps as they hit the carpet. Her stride was slow and threatening. The Vortex Manipulator was still in her mouth.

"I tried everything I could to get it! But she was too fast!" the Creature suddenly disappeared, only to reappear seconds later beside Alfie - who jumped away from him. "I get a hold of that thing and I can go anywhere!"

The Creature made a grab for the Vortex, but Alfie was too quick and dodged him. She made a run for the open doorway, but the Creature appeared on her back and wrapped it's clawed fingers around her collar, scratching the back of her neck in the process. The Creature dug it's small bony heels between her ribs painfully as he tried to reach the watch in her mouth, but she wasn't about to make it easy for him. Alfie turned and ran across the green marble floor as fast as she could, which was pretty fast. The Creature went flying off of her back as she hit the brakes and skidded across the floor. But before the purple skinned thing slammed against the wall, he disappeared again, only to reappear back onto the throne was a furious scowl on his face.

"I'll wipe this planet clean! Start all over from scratch! Kill the all! Tear them all to pieces!" the Creature roared, his voice echoing off of the stone walls. "Kill them all! Kill! Kill-"

The sound of a gun being fired exploded into the room, and the Creature's little head erupted and went everywhere. His eyes took on a glossy glass look. The Doctor, Amy, Rory and Alfie all turned round to stare at the Guard; his weapon was held tightly in his hands and from the end of it was a thin line of dark grey smoke.

"I have a f-family! There is no way I was about to let that thing do anything to th-them!" the Guard tried to justify his action with his slight stutter, but from the look on the Doctor's face it wasn't working. "You have to u-understand. Family comes f-first. Nothing is more important to m-me."

"Why do you always respond with guns? It doesn't matter what planet or what species, guns are always a certain. He could have been stopped without being killed, we could have talked about it.." the Doctor sighed heavily. He glanced over at Alfie when she suddenly appeared to have remembered something before quickly scampering out of the throne room, but she wasn't gone long before she returned, but she was now dragging a teenager along with her by the bottom of his raggedy red shirt. His hair was pure white, a brilliantly bright neon white.

"H-hey! Stop it! Let go! Let go of my shirt Alfie!" the guy protested, he was maybe in his late teens, or very early twenties and about as tall as Amy. He tried to stop the white furred dog from dragging him by digging his heels into the carpet, but he would stumble forward and Alfie would continue dragging him.

"And who are you now?" the Doctor asked the young guy as Alfie stopped dragging him. Why on Krypton had Alfie brought in this shy looking guy who so obviously didn't want to be there?

"Buck Eon." he introduced himself nervously, not making any eye contact with the Doctor as he stared down at Alfie, who sat looking up at him with her tail wagging. The Doctor then understood why she had brought him into the throne room to them.

"So you're the great-great-great-great-grandson of Shade Eon then?" Amy asked the guy, Buck - he nodded his head without looking up.

"Well, that was quick. Looks like Krypton 4 has a new ruler," the Doctor grinned, straightening his bow-tie. "Long live the Shade."


	4. Familiar Brown Jacket

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**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German sheppard, I own all the rights to her. I own Krypton 4, the Exiles, Buck Eon and the Psychic tag.

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><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter Four** - **Familiar Brown Jacket**

Buck soon became quite popular, he was the obvious choice for the next Shade of Krypton 4 as he was a descendent of Royal Blood. And being the shy guy he was that normally got ignored, it was a bit much all at once. With a few hours, news got out that Shade Krystal was dead and that an Eon was claiming the throne back - as it was his birth rite.

Poor Buck, the morning before he had just been another replaceable servant. He had been just that average guy who you wouldn't spare a second glance at if you passed him on the street. But now, now he wasn't just some guy, he was the next Shade. He was the most respected man on the whole planet now.

"So, how does it feel?" the Doctor came up behind the neon white-haired young man and stood beside him as he looked over the City from a balcony on the East wing of the palace. The emerald sun was once again burning brightly over the city, the shadows of the night had long since been chased away and replaced with beautiful colours of red and blue. The white stoned pathways glowed beneath the sun's light. "Being a Shade I mean."

"I… I'm not sure yet…" Buck replied, fiddling with his fingers nervously before his hands clenched into loose fists and he stood up straight, a determined look on his face. "But I know how I'm going to start, by removing the law that Exiles are banished from the City."

"Great, you'll need someone to go and tell them," the Doctor smiled cheerfully as Buck at him with raised eyebrows. "Alright I give in, I'll go tell them."

Before Buck could reply, the Doctor was off to find Alfie - who was his only way of getting back to the TARDIS… and to tell the Exiles some exciting news. He found her quickly, and thankfully with Amy and Rory as well.

"Excellent. Now, Alfie, we need to go back to the Cave where the Exiles are." the Doctor told her as he took hold of her collar again, Amy and Rory did the same. Alfie bit down lightly on the Vortex Manipulator and they were zapped out of the Palace, but after a few seconds reappeared at the mouth of the Cave the exiles lived in.

Alfie turned round slowly and stared wide-eyed at the blue box standing before her, her jaw dropped and the watch landed with a thump onto the blue grassy ground. She stared a few seconds more before shaking herself out of the trance she had been in, she grabbed the Vortex Manipulator in her mouth and turned tail, trotting quickly down the dark hole with confident ease of someone who was familiar with their surroundings. It wasn't long before the Doctor spotted the orange glow at the bottom of the cave that meant they were at the centre of the Exiles den. Alfie jumped over the fire and darted down the passageway opposite the entrance.

"Alfie!" the Doctor and his companions heard a voice squeak loudly with shock at first but then in joyous glee.

"I thought you only wanted to see where the Shade lived? What took you so long?" Scarlet questioned as she emerged out of the darkness from another passageway, her blazing red hair highlighted by the fire. She looked from the Doctor to Amy, then to Rory. "So? Where is she?"

"She's with Granger, don't worry about her. We're here for a different reason actually. We were away for a bit because of the Shade," the Doctor told the Exile leader. "There was a whole big fuss, Shade Krystal was killed and now there's a new Shade. Buck Eon-"

"Wait, wait, wait, slow down. What?" Scarlet asked, eyes wide in disbelief at the news that the Shade had been murdered. They had attempted to kill him dozens of times over the past few years, but this bow-tie wearing mad man managed to kill him in just a few hours. That was hardly fair.

"Yeah, Shade Eon. Which is the reason why we're here actually," the Doctor smiled brightly at Scarlet as he clasped his hands together. "The exiles are no longer banished from the kingdom, so you can go back and live in the city.""You're joking!" a young guy appeared from the far right tunnel, his hair was a smoky grey colour and his green eyes were wide with disbelief. He twisted quickly and melted back into the darkness.

"Duke stop!" Scarlet called after him, but it was too late, he had already gone to tell the others. She scrunched her eyes shut and sighed heavily through her nose. "Thank you very much, Doctor."

Seconds later loud joyous shouts and cheers echoed throughout the cave, getting louder and louder, as if growing closer and closer towards the heart of the den. Suddenly grinning faces belonging to brightly haired exiles emerged from the dark; men, women, children, and even the dogs were dancing around the fire. Spinning, and jumping, back-flipping and cart wheeling. It was like watching a marvellous dancing circus act, but without any music or funny costumes. They howled, and cheered, and cried with glee.

It wasn't long before Scarlet gave in and joined in with the other Exiles, skipping and hooting in delight. Standing at the very edge of the main part of the cave stood Alfie, her white fur standing out terribly against the black rock wall and the shadows all around. Right by her side was Granger, bobbing up and down on the tips of his bare toes. He looked like he really wanted to join in with the others, but he would surely get hurt if he tried. Alfie looked up at him and a frown fell over his face after a few seconds, his hand tightened around the red leather collar around her neck. Alfie then looked away from him and over towards Scarlet, who looked back at her and nodded her head before skipping over and scooping Granger up into her arms, he squeaked in surprise before dissolving into giggles as he danced with the other Exiles.

Alfie stood on her own and watched the large group with a forlorn look, she knew that the Exiles didn't need her anymore. They hadn't needed her in the first place, she was just extra help. She had made a difference to Granger's life, but he would have soon grown out of her company and went to seek affection from someone his own age, his own species even. Alfie, still holding the Vortex Manipulator in her mouth, padded over towards the Doctor and sat down in front of him, looking up into his blue eyes with her own.

The Doctor had only just then noticed that Alfie's eyes were two different colours; the left one was a steel blue colour, while the right one was a battleship grey colour. They looked familiar, but he just couldn't quite place them.

'Can I come with you?' a voice asked in his head, Alfie asked in his head. 'I don't belong here.'

"So I noticed," the Doctor replied, smiling as he kneeled down in front of her so that he was at her level. "You can come on one condition. You tell me why you aren't changing into your human form."

'I can't.' Alfie replied, her sad tone ringing in his head.

"What do you mean you can't?"

'I can't. A bit of silver was placed into the scruff of my neck. I can't reach it, and until it get's removed I can't shift.' Alfie explained to the Time lord squatting in front of her.

"Ah, I see how that can be a problem," the Doctor agreed, nodding his head. "Well, now that that's cleared up, let's go back to the TARDIS and see what I can do about that."

"Aren't we going to say good-bye or anything?" Rory asked, breaking his own silence as they walked away from the Exiles, the Doctor leading the group with Alfie padding along at his side.

"We don't need to ruin their fun," the Doctor replied as he pushed the front door to his Time machine open. "Oops, forgot to lock the door… Oh well, nothing bad."

Alfie trotted into the blue box after him and looked all around her, it had seemed tiny from the outside, but was far from that on the inside.

"Right, let's see where I put it," the Doctor ran across to the other side of the TARDIS and down a pair of stairs. There was a squeak of something being opened, followed by the sound of rummaging through things before a thud as something was closed. A few more minutes of squeaking and rummaging later, the Doctor found what he was looking for. "Ah-ha!"

The Doctor appeared beside the console of the TARDIS after jumping up the stairs again, in his hand was a greyish silver rectangular shaped box with buttons and knobs on it.

"I knew I had it somewhere, good old magnetising device. Quick with little mess, but hurts a bit," the Doctor explained as he strolled over to Alfie and positioned the box over the middle of her shoulders at the scruff of her neck. "Are you ready?"

Amy and Rory watched curiously as Alfie nodded her head and the Doctor pressed a blue button down on the box with his thumb, a humming noise started and quickly grew louder. There was a sickening rip as something was torn and the Doctor pushed the blue button again, stopping the magnet. Alfie whimpered softly as they noticed the tear in her fur that was oozing blood, but they watched as the wound stitched back together and healed before their eyes - the blood stayed behind though.

"There, you should be alright now," the Doctor held up the shiny silver piece of metal up between his fingers. "Silver, not a very nice thing to Shifters."

"Shifters?" Amy and Rory said in union, equally as confused.

The trio watched as Alfie was surrounded by a silvery light, her body began to change, becoming more and more human-like. When the light disappeared after only a few seconds, standing in Alfie's place was a young woman with ghostly white hair and eyes that were two different colours. She was only a few inches shorter than the Doctor, and was just as thin. She was barefoot, with raggedy blue jeans and a navy button up shirt buttoned up fully, apart from the first two buttons at her neck which were left unbuttoned. Over her clothes was a light brown overcoat that almost reached her feet, it was loose on her and left open at the front. Around her neck was an identical red leather collar with three tags, just like Alfie had, but much looser obviously. She had the Vortex Manipulator that Alfie had had in her mouth, she reached up and grabbed it with her hand before slipping it into the left pocket of the overcoat.

"Well, this is nice. Couldn't shift back to normal for almost seven months," the young woman looked down at her thumbs with childish interest and wiggled them. "You miss not having thumbs after a short while."

The young woman looked up to see three pairs of eyes staring at her, one with curiosity while the other two were confused.

"Right, sorry, introductions. A bit hard to do when you're a dog," the young woman laughed cheerfully and ran a hand through her messy white hair before stuffing both her hands into the pockets of her brown overcoat. "Hello, I'm Alfie Giles."

At that moment, the Doctor remembered why she had looked so familiar in her dog form, and even more so in her human form. Alfie Giles, she had travelled with his previous regeneration after Rose, but before and then after he met Martha. She had helped him by just being there, helping him to grieve and then, after a little while, heal as well. He remembered the day she'd left as if it had only happened yesterday. She had gotten a call from (Captain) Jack Harkness, Torchwood had needed her help with a gang of Shifters they had found causing trouble. She had told him to go on with - it had been at the time - Donna, but she added that he'd better come back for her. He hadn't, well… he had visited her - after Rose - before he had regenerated, he'd given her his brown overcoat - as both a peace offering and because he remembered how much she'd loved his coat. And like the understanding person she had been, she forgave him for not coming back for her.

"Let's see… hmm… same machine, new console, different man…" Alfie thought aloud to herself as she turned around, looking everywhere before her eyes stopped on the Doctor. "So, there are two possibilities. One, the Doctor regenerated again. Or two, you did something to him," - she stepped closer to the Doctor until her toes were touching the tips of his shoes and their noses were millimetres apart, her eyes shifted all over his face as she studied him. His hair was still brown, but more floppy. And his eyes were blue now instead of brown. He was a tiny bit shorter than his tenth regeneration as well, but it wasn't that noticeable. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," he replied as honestly as he could, staring into her two different eyes, she didn't look convinced. "I can prove it to you."

"Go on then." Alfie ordered softly, neither of them had moved away from each other.

"The first time we met, you had walked up to the TARDIS and knocked on the door, asking if you could use the phone because you couldn't get the door open. You'd just changed out of your uniform and you were on your way home when someone had mugged you at the entrance to the ally were I'd hidden the TARDIS, took your shoes and all," the Doctor reminded her, there was a spark of remembrance as he knew she was remembering the day as well. "You had your badge in your pocket, and you told me you were Detective Inspector Alfie Giles. I never answered and you just sat down at the front doors of the TARDIS."

The Doctor watched her closely, but she still didn't look convinced, he would have to remember something that only he would have known.

"Lots of people walked past." Alfie replied, even though he knew she wanted to believe he was the real deal, she had to be careful.

"I opened the door and held a pair of converse for you, and you just looked up at me," the Doctor continued. "I grinned and winked at you and said-"

"'I've never met a Shifter who's part of the human Police Force before.'" the Doctor and Alfie quoted in union, that was when any scepticism she had had left immediately and a wide grin took over her face.

"It is you!" Alfie wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground a bit, spinning around before putting her bare feet back onto the cold glass platform. She pulled back and placed her hands on either side of his head. "And look at you! Younger and all!" - Alfie kissed the tip of his nose playfully and grinned brightly before looking at the sides of his head - "Aw, I loved your sideburns."

"I see you haven't changed much." the Doctor laughed at the white haired woman as pulled his ear gently. And it was true, Shifters didn't age, and Alfie was no acceptation. She was as young as when he'd first met her, looking to be in her twenties. He could point out a few differences though, for instance she'd gotten her hair cut, now it was only a few inches longer than his own, but still as white as ever. She did however have a small crescent shaped scar beneath her left eye, but it was hardly noticeable unless you had been looking for it.

"Couldn't see the point." Alfie laughed along with the Doctor, the tags on the collar around her neck clinking together.

"So, where did you get this then?" the Doctor picked the tag on her collar that was Authorising her with being able to legally time travel.

"Unlike you, Mr Time lord, I don't instantly have the right to travel through space and time, the Shadow Proclamation arrested me twice before they got sick of me and gave me a licence. Took a bit of work, but I got it in the end." Alfie explained to the Doctor, whose mouth hung open when she'd told him of her arrests.

"And what about this one?" the Doctor held up the blank one.

"Psychic tag, really quite cool, watch," Alfie told the Doctor and padded over to his two Companions, who had been quite. Her bare feet thudded against the glass floor. She held up the blank tag to the two humans. "What does it say?"

"'If found, please return to the TARDIS.' What's that supposed to mean?" Rory asked Alfie after reading out what the tag says.

"Basically it's like an address tag, it lets whoever is reading it to see an address to take the wearer to," Alfie explained to Rory, but turned to the Doctor and yawned a bit. "So, I'm grimy and dirty. Shower still next to the Library? Or my room?"

"Try the wardrobe." the Doctor replied, he had found the bathroom next to the Wardrobe the last time he'd take a shower, why wouldn't it still be there now?

"Rightio, see you in a few ticks." Alfie waved and disappeared down a corridor, the sound of her whistling a tune echoed back to the console room.

"I loved that coat." Was the first thing the Doctor said as he turned his head away from the corridor and looked at his two human companions.

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><p><strong>Second update in less than a week, am I good or am I Good?<strong>

**Reviews and comments are great. I read everyone personally and enjoy them. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.**


	5. Rock Paper Scissors

**Author's Note **I'd just like to say a special thanks to Shifuni, for being a very supportive fan of this story.

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German sheppard, I own all the rights to her. I own the description of Alfie's room, not to sure about the Bathroom though...

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><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter five **-** Rock Paper Scissors**

It didn't take Alfie too long to find the large wardrobe, and at first she hadn't been able to see any sign of the bathroom. But as she turned to leave though, she spotted something white hidden behind a rack of different coats of all styles. She slipped through them and stood in front of a white wooden door, there was a black wooden sign nailed into it that said 'Bathroom' in painted white letters.

"Just can't make it easy for me, can you?" Alfie asked the TARDIS in a mock hurt way before she laughed and stepped through the white door into the bathroom.

The bathroom was wondrously big and covered in beautiful TARDIS blue and ice white tiles, there was a large white bath to her left that could easy fit four people and then some, and to her right was a silver coloured walk-in shower. There was also a white glass sink to her far right, and sitting next it was a tall neat pile of white and blue towels ranging from face cloths to large full-body towels. Alfie slipped a big fluffy white towel out from the bottom of the pile and went over to the walk-in shower, she placed her towel on the spotless ground and managed to turn the shower on without getting soaked, she was dying for a good scrub.

Alfie walked back to the door and took the brown overcoat off, she hung it on the black wooden sign before closing the door firmly and sliding the lock over to keep the door shut. The Doctor didn't always knock, for a brilliant minded man he could be quite oblivious sometimes, but she loved him all the same. The greatest friend she had ever had. She slipped her tattered old clothes off and folded them, leaving the pile of material near the door so that she wouldn't forget to bin them after her shower. The last thing she took off was the loose red collar around her neck, which she was just able to slip off over her head. She held the tags in her hand and ran her thumb over the engraved metal, tracing the small letters slowly as the bathroom began to steam up.

"I've been flying under the radar for a while now, but now that I'm in my human form again, I'm not sure if I can get away," Alfie spoke aloud to herself, but the TARDIS hummed loudly in response before quietening a little. "Oh well, no point being stuck in the past." - She threw the collar behind her onto the pile of clothes as she stepped into the shower, she had no intention of throwing it away, it was just there so she would lift it.

The warm water washed away the dirt and the grim of the last few months of her life that had clung to her skin, leaving behind only the scars she pained helping to protect the more vulnerable of the Exiles. Her hair clung to the back of her neck and lay flatly against the top of her head, water droplets bounced off of her skin and splashed against the glass walls of the shower. When she had checked her reflection in the mirror above the sink before she'd entered the shower, her hair had been greyer than it's natural white colour, but that would soon change. She shampooed her hair thoroughly, rinsed and then added conditioner, just to make it feel softer - and because it smelled of mint. She turned the shower off after standing under the hot running water for a few extra minutes and shook her head like you would see a dog do, it had been a habit of hers since she was a child. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped her body in the big fluffy white towel, it covered her chest respectively and stopped just past her knees. It was actually quite quiet, apart from the familiar hum of the TARDIS that made Alfie feel like she was finally home.

Alfie grabbed her shabby old clothes with her collar sitting on them as she unlocked the door and opened it, on her way pat she grabbed the brown jacket - which was the least damaged of her clothes - off of the sign as she walked back out into the wardrobe through the coats. She remembered that she had made a rack in the wardrobe hers, but she wasn't able to see it.

"Could you help me out please?" Alfie asked politely as she patted the wall of the TARDIS, there was a whooshing noise and the sound of coat hangers scraping, and when Alfie turned round to look at all the clothes she spotted a rack which had jeans of all shades of blue and different colours shirts hanging from it. "I love you." - the TARDIS gave a satisfied buzz of approval.

Beneath her clothes was a sky blue box, inside were neat piles of pants, socks, and bras; all ranging from every colour you could think of, and even a few bizarre patterns as well. She decided to go for light grey underwear with a matching bra, and for the time being had decided to go barefooted, until told otherwise. Clothes wise; she chose an ash grey tank top, a cobalt blue long sleeved button up shirt, and a pair of blue jeans the colour azure and worn white at the knees. She slipped her red collar on over her head last, standing out from her other clothes. She lifted up her old tattered attire and walked out of the wardrobe - but only after folding up the towel she had used and placing it back in the bathroom.

"If the Doctor asks where I am, can you tell him I'll be in my room?" Alfie asked the TARDIS kindly as she draped her brown jacket over her shoulders before leaving the large wardrobe room and walking down a hall, then turning right, two more lefts and a small set of stairs upwards. The TARDIS hummed a yes in reply. "Thanks."

Pretty soon Alfie stopped at a dark blue door that had two grey stripes straight down the middle of it from top to bottom, 'ALFIE GILES' was carved into the wood and painted with white letters. Pinned beneath it was a little sign that read 'Beware of Time Travelling Dog from Space' the letters varied from white to grey, and it made her smile as she remembered Donna had giving it to her before she had left for Torchwood. The handle was silver in colour - but thankfully not in metal. She pushed down on the handle and the door swung open gently without a sound.

The room was an array of greys and blues, there was also red and white. The four walls swapped from grey with blue scratch-like marks, to blue with grey scratch-like marks. The floor was white wood, smooth and cold as Alfie stepped into her room. On the far side of the room was a white wooden desk with grey legs, with a chair to match. There was a reasonably large double bed against the far right wall, the sheets were charcoal grey and candy apple red, with splashed white pillows. Draped across the end of the bed was something Alfie hadn't seen in what felt like years, and she had missed an awful lot. It was a very old thin orange and black quilt she had been given when she was younger, much younger. There was a black bin against the wall beside the door, which she slid her old clothes into. Alfie stood in her room and took a deep breath, it smelled so… her. It was her scent, mixed with a few tints of mint and grass.

Meanwhile back at the console, the Doctor was answering the questions his two companions were asking him about their guest.

"Who is she?" Amy asked curiously, she smiled at the sweet way Alfie had pecked the Doctor's nose - but couldn't help feeling a little jealous.

"She's… well… she's Alfie." the Doctor replied after a few seconds.

"Who is she to you?" Rory asked this time, being more specific than his girlfriend had been.

"She's an old friend of mine who used to travel with me, but she had to leave for a while," the Doctor explained sadly as he fiddled with a few knobs and buttons on the console, but he then looked up and grinned at them cheerfully. "And now she's back. So all's well."

The Doctor flitted around the console' flicking levers, pushing buttons, and even spinning a few things.

"So, where're we going?" Amy asked the Doctor, following him as he circled around the TARDIS' controls.

"Actually," the Doctor stopped abruptly and spun around, causing Amy to almost run into him. He fiddled with his fingers a little subconsciously as his eyes shifted from Amy to Rory, then back again, and vice versa. "I was planning on having a relaxing day. Just park the TARDIS in an empty vortex. You and Rory could explore the TARDIS a bit." the Doctor offered his two companions.

"That sounds so boring." Amy complained, they were usually always on the go. The Doctor had never suggested a rest day before, so what had changed?

"I think it sounds nice," Rory told both the Doctor and Amy. "Running all the time is exhausting."

"Fine then, we'll spend a relaxing day exploring the TARDIS," Amy finally agreed, but huffing a little as she stared at the Doctor with her arms folded over her chest. "What are you going to do then?"

"Oh, you know, this and that. Make a few repairs to the console, things like that." the Doctor replied as he took his jacket off and threw it onto the jump seat beside where his two companions were standing. He unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. He began tinkering with something and pretty soon he was left alone in the console room while Amy and Rory wad wandered off, maybe daring to venture into the bowels of the TARDIS.

Hours slipped by and the Doctor was talking to his beloved TARDIS, having no one else to talk to. It was when his wondrous Time machine hummed loudly that he remembered his returned Companion that he had neglected.

"Can you tell me where Alfie is?" the Doctor asked the TARDIS nicely, patting the console lovingly.

'Of course I can,' the TARDIS' voice replied into the Time lord's head. 'She is in her room.'

"Thanks, dear." the Doctor patted the console again before sauntering off down a corridor, the one Alfie had padded down a little while before to get a shower. But instead of the way he expected she went to get to the bathroom which was in the wardrobe, it took a few minutes, and a climb up a small flight of stairs to get him to where he wanted. The blue wooden door had 'ALFIE GILES' carved into it and painted white. The Doctor stood in front of it for a few extra seconds before lifting his hand and giving the door four solid knocks with his knuckles.

A minute or two later the door opened widely and there stood Alfie, her short white hair a mess, sticking out in places in an odd fashion. She was wearing a grey tank top now, and instead of jeans she wore shorts. Well, they were technically dark blue boxer shorts that stretched down to her mid-thigh. They were covered in orangey-yellow swirls, and there was about a dozen small blue Police Boxes dotted through the swirls, interesting pattern.

"Nice boxers," the Doctor teased, quickly looking up to her face. "Where'd you get them?"

"Hey, don't dis the boxers, boxers are hot. And anyway, I found them in my top drawer," Alfie grinned before she yawned and rubbed her eyes, she had obviously been sleeping. "I haven't gotten much sleep over the past few months, you know, what with the threat of the Shade's army and all."

"Well, you're safe now. No evil buzz-haired guys with guns to get you," the Doctor joked, and Alfie laughed along with him. It was only now that he noticed that under her eyes were tinged purple, which was noticeable against her pale skin now. "Sorry I woke you, I felt like I was neglecting you. Go back to sleep."

"You're an idiot sometimes," Alfie insulted him, but it had no bite or nastiness to it, it was more affectionate than anything. She went back into her room out of the Doctor's view before returning quickly, she was now wearing a navy dressing gown that stopped at her knees. She rolled the sleeves up to her elbows as she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. "I can't sleep now," - that was when her stomach decided to give an almost monstrous growl of hunger. "But I could go for something to eat."

"Come on," the Doctor suddenly got excited, he grabbed her hand and dragged her through corridor after corridor. He let go of her hand as they stepped into the kitchen and he darted over to the Fridge, which had a freezer part attached above it. "You have to try my favourite thing to eat."

"As long as it's not broccoli, that's fine," Alfie replied crossing her arms as she leaned back against the kitchen table in the middle of the room. She watched curiously as the Doctor lifted out a box from the Freezer and a box from the fridge, she spotted what they were though. "Fish fingers and custard?"

The Doctor stuck the fish fingers into the oven on a plate and poured the whole box of custard into a big glass bowl.

"Yep, I love it." the Doctor replied, and they had to wait for the fish to defrost and cook. He slid them onto a cooler plate and set both the bowl and the plate onto the table beside Alfie.

"I'm not really sure if I'd eat that, it just seems w-" Alfie had started, but the Doctor had dipped half of a fish finger into the custard and slipped it into her mouth, which shut her up.

The Doctor had tried to get Amy to eat some a week or two ago, but she refused and ran to the safety of Rory, who wouldn't try them either. Both of them had looked disgusted. But he watched as Alfie chewed thoughtfully, the sweetness of the custard mixing with the fishy-ness of the fingers.

"Well, what do you think?" the Doctor asked, watching as she ran her tongue over her lips.

"That was really weird," was Alfie's verdict as she looked over to the Doctor, who pouted. She smiled at him and laughed a little. "Not a bad weird, you muppet. A good weird."

And after that, the Doctor and Alfie found themselves sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table, the bowl of custard and plate of fish fingers between them. Alfie had taken her dressing gown off and it was now draped across the back of her chair, which actually did have her name carved into the back of it, but it was hidden by the navy material.

"See, delicious." the Doctor said as he popped a custard covered fish finger into his mouth. Alfie mimicked his action before nodding her head.

It was at this point that they heard voices, two voices to be precise, getting closer and louder. Both the Doctor and Alfie turned their heads to look towards the entrance of the kitchen just as Amy and Rory appeared in the doorway, the first thing they spotted was the custard and fish fingers.

"Gross, you aren't actually eating that, are you?" Amy asked Alfie disbelievingly, to which Alfie dipped one of the fish fingers into the custard before sticking it into her mouth and chewing with a grin on her face before swallowing dramatically.

"Yum, it's delicious," Alfie eat another one, and so did the Doctor. She swallowed and a thoughtful look overtook her face. "Although in saying that, I've been living off of bread and whatever else I could catch for the past few months. So anything would taste great at this point. It's amazing how limited your food is when you're a dog…"

"And now you're human, limitless now," the Doctor grabbed another fish finger and dipped it into the custard, covering it generously before putting it into his mouth. Out of the fifteen there had been in the box, one remained on the plate. They both eyed it before looking at each other. "Rock, Paper, Scissors?"

Alfie grinned, and remembered the Doctor hadn't been any good at the game in his 10th regeneration, or against her he hadn't.

"On the count of three," Alfie and the Doctor curled a hand each into a fist and brought them opposite each other. "Rock… Paper… Scissors."

The Doctor kept his hand in a fist while Alfie straightened hers out, as if to shake hands with someone.

"Paper, beats rock." Alfie informed the Doctor, who was about to protest that a rock would rip paper. "It's how the game works."

"Best two out of three," the Doctor was determined to get the last fish finger, which he would probably end up breaking in half to share anyway. "Rock… Paper… Scissors."

The Doctor's hand changed into a peace sign on it's side, while Alfie kept her hand balled up.

"Rock beats scissors. I win." Alfie grinned triumphantly.

"Why do you always win?" the Doctor asked frowning, now remembering that she had always won in his previous regeneration.

"Because I'm psychic." Alfie joked as she stood up and lifted the last fish finger.

"Oh really? Then what am I thinking right now?" the Doctor asked doubtfully, not getting that she had been joking.

"How sexy these boxers I'm wearing look," Alfie laughed as she indicated to her current attire before breaking the fish finger in two, she dipped one half in and eat it, holding the other part between her fingers. He would never admit it, but the Doctor though for a moment what she'd look like wearing a pair of _his_ boxer shorts, and not just some random pair she'd found in her room. Alfie watched as she thought the Doctor was pouting because he'd lost to her - when actually he was thinking about the appearance of the mystery boxer shorts - and decided to give her old friend what he wanted. "Oh fine then, here you are."

The Doctor's face lit up as she held out the other half of the fish finger to him to him, which he took and used to scoop up some custard, putting it in his mouth before lifting the bowl up to his lips and drinking the custard. He set on the table and chewed as he looked up grinning at Alfie, who laughed at his yellow custard moustache.

Amy and Rory stood at the door watching the Time lord and Shape-shifter acting like old friends, which according to the Doctor they were. They looked so comfortable around each other, and they clearly cared deeply for one another, whether they admitted it or not.

"I'd hate to love you and leave you, but I'm knackered," Alfie told the Doctor as she stretched, the joints in her arms and back couldn't take the pressure and popped loudly. She quickly grabbed the bow-tie and pulled it, to which it came undone easily, and she walked past Amy and Rory grinning happily. "And you are not getting this monstrosity back!" - she shouted over her shoulder.

"Bow-ties are cool!" the Doctor shouted as he quickly dumped the dishes into the sink and ran after the white haired woman.

"Sideburns are cool!" Amy and Rory heard Alfie shout back, a cheerful laugh at the end of it.

The couple watched as the white haired shifter was the first to disappear from their view after running through the main room past the console and down the corridor opposite them, the Doctor's red bow-tie held high above her head in her hand as she ran. The floppy brown haired Time Lord disappeared next, following her quickly down the hall. The sound of boxes toppling over and landing with a clatter as things spilled out of them was heard soon after, followed by a laugh and then squeals of surprise.

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><p><strong>More comments would be great, or anything that tells me people are reading this and liking it. Is it too much to ask for?<strong>


	6. Big Blue Birdie

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German sheppard, I own all the rights to her

**Author's Note **Big thanks and a mention toXxPanda-BabiixX, V., rainbow12345 and Kurisetina for commenting on this story. Here's chapter six for yous.

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><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter Six** - **Big Blue Birdie**

Amy and Rory decided to stay in the console room and relax, that and they didn't want to risk getting lost again in the labyrinth of halls inside the TARDIS.

Meanwhile somewhere in the TARDIS Alfie and the Doctor were now playing a game of cat and mouse, the mouse still had the bow-tie, so that cat was losing and now falling behind. Alfie was considerably faster than the Time lord, and he knew it, but didn't really care either.

"Give me my bow-tie back!" the Doctor demanded, a toothy grin stretched across his face.

"Never!" Alfie laughed back, ducking down another corridor, then another, and another.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" the Doctor called, he couldn't see Alfie anywhere now - she had disappeared from his view.

"Nope!" Alfie's voice echoed back, popping the 'P' as she stopped running and just walked at a leisurely pace - unable to hear the Doctor's footsteps behind her anymore. "So," - she began, talking normally to the TARDIS. "What have I missed?"

Alfie stopped in her tracks and turned towards the wall as a square panel lifted up, revealing a screen behind it that flickered to life.

"Ooh, I love movies." Alfie smiled as she stepped closer to the television screen. A video began playing across the screen and Alfie watched as Donna Noble - her friend - grabbed the Doctor's spare hand and a bubbling jar-like case. They were both surrounded by an orange glow before the glass shattered and a body began to grow from the hand, a duplicate of the Doctor from his tenth regeneration sat up, he had an almost dazzled look on his face - he was also completely naked. She watched as the duplicate went and put on one of the Doctor's blue suits, his hair was a mess of brown sticking out all over the place.

"Anything else?" Alfie asked, a picture of a good-looking man with blondish white hair appeared wearing a black hoodie and jeans. "Ah, the Master," - then a Weeping Angel with it's back to her flashed briefly across the screen, after that a very big and very scary fish thing with long pointed fangs appeared. "They look rather nasty," - another picture replaced it, and the Creatures on it were the most terrifying things, ones she wished never to see again. Five Daleks were in the photo, all different coloured, the front one a sickly pure white. "Oh no. What happened?"

'The Doctor chose to save the Earth over destroying his greatest enemy,' the TARDIS answered in head for the first time since her return. 'He hasn't spoken much about it. Amy doesn't remember seeing them before, and the Doctor doesn't trust Rory enough yet to speak of such things with him. But you understand.'

"Of course I understand." Alfie agreed quickly. When she had stood up against the Daleks alongside the Doctor for the first time, she had seen the unholy rage behind his eyes, could feel his bloodlust for revenge roll over her in angry waves - dogs were apparently good at sensing auras like that, Shifters were no acceptation.

'Speak to him, maybe he will confide in you.' the TARDIS whispered as her voice faded from the white haired woman's head.

The panel slid down again, covering up the screen as she spotted the Doctor appear out of the corner of her eye.

"There you are!" the Doctor shouted as he ran at her, but as she turned her head and looked at him, slowed down to a stop. "What's wrong?"

Alfie ran towards him and jumped at the Time lord, wrapping her arms around his neck as she buried her face into his hair. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist and hid his face into her neck, breathing in deeply as his nose pressed into her skin.

"A big blue birdie told me that you had to face a terrible thing alone," Alfie whispered sadly into the Doctor's ear, and his hold tightened around her. Alfie stroked the soft brown hair on the back of his head in a soothing gesture, telling him silently that it was okay. He didn't appear to be the affectionate type, but she knew from experience that the Time lord loved hugs. All he wanted was to be held by someone who understood him, who wouldn't think any less of him if he cried a little or if he talked about the things he had had to do. "When was the last time you slept?"

The Doctor paused for a moment, considering whether or not he should tell her the truth, "A few weeks ago," - his voice was slightly muffled against her shoulder, she clipped the back of his head with her hand before smoothing down the ruffled hair - "A few months ago."

"Be a little more specific." Alfie murmured, she knew that Time lords didn't have to sleep, but they needed a little sleep eventually. Even a little half-hour kip made them fine for a few weeks.

"Since you left, I suppose." the Doctor confessed after a minute or two of silence.

"I've been gone for almost a year." Alfie rebuked him, the hairs on the back of her neck bristled as a slight wind passed by coming from somewhere in the TARDIS, Alfie was after all just in a tank top and boxer shorts - her dressing gown had been forgotten on the back of the chair in the kitchen.

"Yes, a few months." the Doctor replied, being stubborn about the situation.

"Come on then." Alfie disentangled herself from the Doctor's arms and grabbed his hand, she then proceeded to drag the Time lord down a series of hallways.

"Where are we going?" the Doctor questioned as her allowed the white haired shifter to lead him to wherever she was planning on going.

"Your room." Alfie replied, looking over her shoulder at the floppy brown haired Time Lord.

"But-" the Doctor had started to protest, he was too late though. Alfie had dragged him to a large polished mahogany door with a shining brass door handle.

"Come on," Alfie pushed the door open and dragged the Doctor inside his room. There was a large double bed against the centre of one of the walls to their right, it had rich chocolate and dark beige sheets with four cream-coloured fluffy looking pillows. All around the room were books, and pieces of paper, and even all sorts of bits and bobs were scattered all over the desk and the bookshelves. "Wow, hasn't changed a bit."

Alfie let go of the Doctor's hand and she began lifting things off of the bed, she threw some random things she found at the Doctor - for example, she found a banana-yellow rubber duck with an orange beak beneath one of the pillows, which she chucked at his head and grinned when it squeaked after hitting it's target. She stacked the sheets and books into piles on the desk, which already had every square inch of it covered.

"Right, up you get. You're going to sleep." Alfie pulled the quilt halfway off of the bed and folded it over, revealing a creamy white mattress cover.

"I'm not tired." the Doctor protested stubbornly, and didn't move from where she'd left him.

"You only think you're not tired. Trust me, I'm a Shifter," Alfie smiled, padding back towards the Time lord and grabbing his hand, she pulled him over to his bed and pushed him gently so that he sat down on the edge of the mattress. "Take your shoes off though."

"I'm not getting out of this, am I?" the Doctor asked with a defeated tone.

"Nope," Alfie answered, popping the 'P' as she watched the Doctor kick his shoes off, they made hollow thuds as they whacked off of the bookshelf a few feet away from the side of his bed. "Now. I'm going back to my own room because you woke me up."

Alfie smiled at the Doctor before spinning round on the ball of her foot and stepped towards the door, but she was stopped by the Doctor grabbing her hand gently, "Wait, stay, please," he asked, and seemed to be almost frightened at the idea of being left alone with his own dreams - which he most likely was. "You wanted to know what happened after you left?"

Alfie looked at the Doctor thoughtfully before taking a deep breath and sighing through her nose, but a smile appeared on her lips. She rolled her eyes playfully and let go of the Doctor's hand. Fear and a feeling rejection formed fast and twisted in his stomach painfully, but they disappeared and he felt a little embarrassed as he watched her walk around to the other side of the bed and jump on, she fixed the pillows on her side and sat up with her back against the headboard. The Doctor slipped his red braces off of his shoulders and they fell onto the bed, but stayed clipped to his trousers. He swung his legs up onto the bed and lay down facing inwards to that he could see Alfie, he reached over and wrapped his arms around her hips, pulling her closer as he rested his head onto her abdomen.

_Lub-dub-lub. Lub-dub-lub. _The Doctor's ear was met with a familiar rhythm, a heartbeat, Alfie's heartbeat - three of them. One less than a Time lord, one more than a humans. Alfie only had one heart or course, but a Shifter's heart had to beat faster than a humans because of their bodies - their faster metabolism, their faster healing process, etc. That and a Shifter's heart had to deal with morphing and changing size. It wasn't that her heart was where her stomach was, the Doctor's hearing was just great enough to hear the rhythm.

Alfie didn't react to the Doctor's action for a few seconds, he obviously still had no problems with proximity. But the shock was shortly lived and she smiled before running her hands through the Doctor's hair, noticing it was a bit longer than his last regeneration's.

"So, come on, spill the beans." Alfie said as she ran her fingers up the back of his head, spiking up the hair on the back of his neck, she grinned as the brown hair stuck straight out before smoothing it down.

"Beans are evil. Bad, bad beans." the Doctor scrunched his nose up, pulling a face as he remembered Amy cooking him beans the first time he'd met her as a little girl. He turned his face away and buried his face in her abdomen, her tank top smelled like mint - or was that her?

"You don't like beans? I love beans- wait, hang on. You're changing the subject, stop it," Alfie caught herself, seeing what the Doctor was doing. He needed to hurt a little so he could feel better, open old wounds so that they could heal properly. "Talk to me. You know I'll listen, I always do and always will."

"Winston Churchill, I'm sure you've met him before, he rang me asking for help, and of course I agreed," the Doctor started as he turned his head sideways and rested his cheek against her abdomen. "They had Daleks. But they were calling them 'Ironsides'. Apparently they had been created to help win the war."

"Are they colour coded for a reason? Or just to look pretty?" Alfie asked and the Doctor laughed dryly.

"The Eternal, the Scientist, the Drone, the Strategist, and the Supreme," the Doctor said distastefully, as if every word left a bad flavour on his tongue. "They used a Progenitor to create pure Daleks; they're bigger, deadlier, and a lot more ruthless. And I let them go…"

"You saved the Earth. Trust me, you'll get another chance, you always do," Alfie soothed the Time lord, she could feel the anger and guilt swelling in his stomach. "That's all I wanted to know. Now go to sleep."

"I'm still not tired." the Doctor protested softly, pulling the white haired shifter even closer to him, if that were possible. Her knees were resting gently against his stomach as her hands stroked his head. He curled his fingers around the back of her tank top tightly, afraid that if he let go she'd disappear again.

"Fine, you're not tired. Just close your eyes though." Alfie told the Time lord softly, and he did, his eyelids slid down over his blue eyes

To the Doctor's relief, there were no nightmares waiting for him in sleep; no hiding in the shadows or around corners. It was peaceful, quiet, restful. If he hadn't of accidentally found Alfie he probably wouldn't have even wandered close to his own bedroom, not that he had anyway, she'd dragged him - not that he'd minded her holding his hand.

As the Doctor woke, it had only felt like he'd slept for a few seconds, but in actuality he'd been asleep for hours now. He had to hand it to Alfie, she was right, he did feel better. That was when he noticed that said Shifter wasn't lying beside him anymore, he jumped out of bed and into his shoes quickly, looking around his room to see if she'd just gotten up - but she was nowhere to be found. He pulled his red braces up over his shoulders as he opened the door and slammed it behind him in his rush.

"Alfie?" the Doctor called as he ran, not sure why he was panicking about not being able to find her. He emerged into the Console room, she wasn't their either. "Alfie?"

"Yeah?" the Doctor heard her call back. He ran into the kitchen and she turned to look at him. She wasn't wearing the strange Boxer shorts anymore, or the grey tank top. She was wearing loose light blue jeans worn white at the knees, a candy-apple red tank top on now underneath his old brown overcoat that reached her ankles, which she'd left open. One her feet was a pair of footwear that his previous regeneration had favoured, Converse. Though instead of red, these were a dark purple and green, the rubber soles were white though. He couldn't see the laces or the tongues of the shoes as they were covered by the bottoms of her jeans.

"You!" the Doctor shouted accusingly at the white haired Shifter as he leapt from the doorway and enveloped her in his arms tightly. "I couldn't find you! And then I thought I'd dreamt it all and-"

"Hey, shh. It's okay, shh. I just went to get changed," Alfie assured the panicking Time lord as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'd never just get up and vanish, the TARDIS wouldn't have let me leave against anyway."

"Is everything okay?" Rory asked as he and Amy appeared in the doorway and spotted the pair hugging. "We heard the Doctor shouting."

"Don't mind him," Alfie waved her hand up and down, dismissing the worry the two had. "He just has abandonment issues, he'll be fine in a minute."

"I don't have abandonment issues." the Doctor disagreed, letting go of Alfie and standing up straight.

"Yes you do." Alfie opposed and crossed her arms over her chest with a smile on her face, she raised an eyebrow in a challenging matter.

"Yeah I do," the Doctor decided to just give in as he knew she would win anyway. He then wondered why she was wearing a coat inside. "Are you going somewhere?" - he indicated to the overcoat.

"No, since I haven't been human for seven months I was just wondering what I'd put in the pockets," Alfie smiled and turned back round to the table. The Doctor, Amy and Rory walked over and stood around the table as well. They watched with curiosity as Alfie slipped her hands into the overcoats pockets; in her left hand she pulled out a large ball of string, in her right hand was a collection of six keys on two key rings connected. "That is yours," - she tossed the ball of string onto the table and it rolled towards the Doctor, she slipped the keys into her front jeans pocket though - "I was wondering where they'd went."

For the next few minutes they watched and waited as Alfie lifted things out of her pockets and set them on the table, Amy and Rory lifted a few things and looked at them. The current things on the table included; the Vortex Manipulator, circuit parts, wires, more string, shoe laces, a pair of black framed glasses, a first edition copy of 'The Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris, a pencil and a few pens, a little wooden statue of a werewolf, a roll of stickers shaped like clouds, a green tie, a few pieces of paper with phone numbers on them, a thin light brown wallet, a pair of 3D glasses and a photograph.

"Some of this stuff isn't even mine." Alfie spoke first, sifting through some of the stuff. She separated the stuff into two piles; her stuff, and then the Doctor's old stuff. Amy lifted the photograph sitting on the top of Alfie's pile.

"Oh my god, is this you with David Tennant?" Amy gasped as she skipped to Alfie's side and showed her the photo. Alfie was standing between three guys, one was David Tennant, one was a guy taller than Alfie with slightly ginger hair and a thin beard, and the last one was a guy the same height as Alfie and his hair was short and a light brownish colour. "Who're the other blokes?"

"That's John Simm, and Heath Ledger." Alfie smiled cheekily, what a day that had been. She took the photo and flipped it over to the back, _January 2004 _was written in blue pen.

"Heath Ledger? You knew Heath Ledger?" Amy asked, taking the photo and looking at it close up to her face, as if to try and see if the snap-shot was a fake.

"Oh yeah, brilliant guy. And I'll tell you one thing, John Simm, great kisser. That's a keeper," Alfie grinned and slipped the photo back into her pocket, along with the Vortex Manipulator, the little wooden werewolf statue and 'The Silence of the Lambs' novel. The Doctor reached for the wallet, but Alfie slapped his hand away. "Ah, ah. This is mine," Alfie lifted the wallet and opened it up, on one side was nothing and on the other was a blank piece of paper, or it was supposed to be. "You have your own."

"That says you're a first place winner of an intergalactic canine competition." Rory read the paper out loud as he looked at it.

"Psychic paper, although that isn't a lie." Alfie flicked the wallet closed and slipped it back into her pocket.

The Doctor lifted up the pieces of paper with the numbers on them, "Who are Eli, Griffin and Hiccup?" - the names were written above the numbers.

"Would you believe me if I said friends?" Alfie asked, and the Doctor shook his head. "Jack took me to a bar after I'd dealt with the gang of Shifters, Eli and Griffin were very nice. I think Hiccup's parents hated him. But boy could he sing."

The Doctor scrunched the paper up and threw them into the bin beside the fridge, and if Amy hadn't known the Doctor, she have said he was _jealous_.

"The green tie and 3D glasses are definitely yours, you loved them. Weird fashion choice, but you made it work," Alfie grinned teasingly, and the Doctor returned to his normal self, now having most of the Shifter's attention. "Circuit board and wires, I don't need them, and you don't need the shoe laces, so I'll keep the as spares. Oh, and by the way, you can have this back now." Alfie put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the Doctor's red bow-tie.

"Thank you very much," the Doctor smiled triumphantly and put his bow-tie on, tying it correctly before straightening it. "I have my bow-tie back. Bow-ties are cool."

"What ever you say." Alfie agreed sarcastically before she and Amy laughed, Rory smiled and the Doctor looked a little defeated before smiling as well.

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><p><strong>These first few chapter's were for you to get to know Alfie a little better before I started on the 5th series. So The Doctor, Amy and Rory had been in Venice before landing on Krypton 4.<strong>

**So the next few chapters will be 'Amy's Choice'**

**Feel free to review and tell me if you like Alfie and this story or not.**


	7. Amy's Choice: Hide & Seek

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German Shepherd, I own all the rights to her

**Author's Note** Thanks to Kurisetina and Shifuni for reviewing Chapter 6, I really enjoy reading feedback, more would be nice.

**Warning **Written while under the influence of many antibiotics and several cans of Diet Coke.

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><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter Seven** - **Amy's Choice: Hide & Seek**

Amy stood humming away to herself as she stirred and mixed the batter in the bowl she was holding above her very swollen stomach - she was very close to the end of her pregnancy, ready to pop at any moment; the clock on the wall ticking away merrily. She stopped mixing and her humming was cut short as she dropped the bowl onto the counter and held the rims of it tightly for a second, she moved her hands to grip the countertop, her breathing was laboured.

"Rory!" Amy yelled as loud as she could for her husband, stretching the end of his name out phenomenally.

Meanwhile as she stopped yelling Rory cycled up to their two storey cottage, he was startled to attention by his Wife shouting his name angrily.

"Rory! It's starting!" Amy whined loudly, she sounded scared as well. Rory hopped off of his bike, and making a quick decision just dropped it on it's side and ran into the house.

"Okay, okay!" Rory announced as he entered the kitchen and fell to his knees in front of Amy, who was now sitting down with the bowl held up on her stomach.

"False alarm." Amy concluded and licked the spoon covered in batter.

"What?" Rory asked breathlessly.

"Well, I don't know what it feels like, I've never had a baby before." Amy reminded him as she fed him some of the batter on the spoon. They both 'hmm'ed in agreement at the taste.

"Hmm!" Rory was being more dramatic about his liking for the batter and stood up, looking for something else to eat. There was a whooshing sound, fading then coming back stronger. Amy dropped the spoon into the bowl and looked out the window in wonder.

"No…" She spoke disbelievingly.

"I know," Rory agreed, but not at what Amy had been thinking. "Leaf blowers. Use a rake!"

"No, it's…" Amy stood up and looked out the window, a faded blue box appeared then disappeared, but then came back fully and not so faded. "I knew. I just knew."

Rory dropped the bun he was about to eat and made his way out to their front garden, Amy not far behind him.

The Doctor on the other hand was just emerging from the TARDIS, he stood at the door and stared down at the crushed flowers beneath the blue box. He stepped out of the TARDIS and closed the door behind him, but tripped on a stone.

"Rory!" the Doctor shouted happily.

"Doctor!" he answered in reply, throwing his arms up and dropping them again.

"I've crushed your flowerbed." the Doctor told him enthusiastically as he pointed to the mess, smiling foolishly.

"Amy will kill you." Rory told him.

"Where is she?" the Doctor asked, looking at Rory then at their front door.

"She'll need a bit longer." Rory pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "Where's Alfie?"

"We're playing hide and seek, haven't found her yet though. Whenever you're ready Amy." the Doctor called, to which she emerged from the from door smiling brightly.

"Oh! Wahey!" the Doctor pointed at her, Amy made the same sound. "You've swallowed a planet!"

"I'm pregnant." Amy replied cheerfully as she strolled towards the two men.

"You're huge!" the Doctor commented, staring at her round belly.

"Yeah, I'm pregnant." Amy told him again.

"Look at you. When worlds collide." the Doctor smiled widely and moved in between the two.

"Doctor, I'm pregnant." Amy told him again.

"Oh look at you both, five years later and you haven't changed a bit," the Doctor hugged Amy and pointed at Rory. "Apart from age and… size."

"Oh it's good to see you Doctor." Amy smiled towards the Time lord.

The Doctor smiled at her then glanced down at her stomach for a moment and then looking up at her again, "Are you pregnant?"

Amy looked at the Doctor disbelievingly before going back into the house. The Doctor clapped Rory on the shoulder before the two of them followed her into the kitchen, where she'd picked up a phone and dialled a number - the phone rang, and rang, and rang.

_"YOU HAVE REACHED THE COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE OF ALFIE GILES," _A deep gravely voice growled, it had went onto her answering machine. _"YOU MAY LEAVE A MESSEGE AFTER THE TONE."_

Amy rolled her eyes, and instead of leaving a messege, hung up and redialled.

"Why are you playing hide and seek? Where are you playing hide and seek?" Rory asked the Doctor as he picked up the bun he had been about to eat and took a bite out of it.

"Hide and seek is fun, and I was getting tired of Rock, Paper, Scissors. 21st Century, she promised." the Doctor informed him.

"Hey, where are you?" Amy asked into the mouthpiece of the phone, she was silent for a few seconds as she listened. "Sounds fun. Yeah, he's here," - Amy looked over to the Doctor - "Are you ready to give up?"

"Yes, I give up." the Doctor threw his hands up into the air.

"He says he gives up," Amy spoke into the phone. "Alright, see you soon."

Amy dropped the phone onto its cradle and turned to her boys, a few moments later there was a zapping sound and Alfie appeared in the middle of the kitchen, she stumbled but caught herself on the worktop. She was clad in blue jeans, scuffed white Converse All-Stars, a red and grey striped tank top, her red leather dog collar, her beloved brown overcoat, a flowery blue Hawaiin necklace and a light brown cowboy hat tipped back so as it was sitting over the crown of her head. She had a multi-coloured drink in a half full pint glass in her hand and a pair of black tinted sunglasses covering her eyes.

"Wahey, what a Shenanigan - brilliant word," Alfie grinned and took a mouthful of the drink in her hand, she pushed the hat up a little bit further and her glasses slid down her nose. She smiled brightly and her eyes twinkled, they were slightly bloodshot. "I love the spacebar beside Recnac Zeta. Those funky aliens _really_ know how to party."

"You've been at Jupitoxa all this time?" the Doctor asked disbelievingly. Although, in all fairness, he hadn't specified it to the Milky Way galaxy. The space bar Jupitoxa had only been open during the 21st Century, but in the Astatine galaxy.

"No, you Muppet. Don't be daft. Only for the past few hours," Alfie smiled and folded the glasses into her overcoat pocket she set the drink down on the counter and looked at Rory, trying to see if she'd drank to much or if he actually had a ponytail, before looking over at Amy. "You're pregnant! Congratulations!" - Alfie shakily walked over and hugged her tightly.

"Thanks." Amy hugged the drunk Shifter back.

Alfie pulled away and took the hat and necklace off, the necklace fit in her pocket, but she wasn't sure what to do with the hat. So she gave it to the Doctor, who happily put it on his head.

"What was that speaking on your voicemail?" Amy questioned, it had sounded out of this world - literally.

"A Judoon." Alfie replied with a grin.

"Where did you find a Judoon?" the Doctor demanded, thinking a Judoon was far to serious for those kinds of things. "How did you get him to do it?"

"I did find him in a bar, by the way," Alfie grinned, finishing off the drink in a few more gulps. "Just gave him a few shots of Anthastic, poor rhino couldn't take it."

Anthastic was a highly alcoholic drink made on Athrakros, the reason it was so alcoholic was because it was the only drink that could effect a shape shifter for more than twenty minutes, their fast metabolism burned the alcohol off quickly. It was deadly to other species.

It wasn't long before Rory and Amy were leading the group around their village, after Alfie made the Doctor put the hat into the TARDIS that is.

"Ah, Leadworth. Vibrant as ever." the Doctor commented sarcastically, and Alfie poked him in the arm. He gave her a 'What?' look and she shook her head.

"It's Upper Leadworth, actually. We've done slightly upmarket." Rory informed the Doctor, trying to be cool. But there was a dog barking loudly nearby.

"Where is everyone?" Alfie asked, after being at a New York party chock-a-blocked full of people, Leadworth felt barren of people. She was still tipsy, having just come straight from the party.

"This is busy," Amy replied. The Doctor looked around behind them and Alfie lifted a questioning eyebrow at him. "Okay, it's quiet. But it's really… restful, and healthy, loads of people around here live well into their 90's."

"Well don't let that get you done." the Doctor said and looked around as Alfie put her face in her hand and shook her head.

"It's not getting me down," Amy replied as she sat down on a bench.

"Well, I wanted to see how you were. You know me, I don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS," the Doctor said as he and Rory sat down on the bench as well. Alfie leaned against the wall beside Amy though to steady herself, the two men had taken up the rest of the space. "This Time lord's for life. You don't get rid of your old pal the Doctor so easily."

"Hmm, you came here by mistake didn't you?" Amy asked the Doctor.

"Oh definitely." Alfie laughed a reply at the Doctor's guilty face.

"But look, what a result. Look at this… bench. What a nice bench, What will they think of next?" the Doctor said almost awkwardly, the four of them lapsed into silence. He looked at Amy, then at Alfie, he pulled a face at her before looking round at Rory. "So… what do you do around here to stave off the, you know?…"

"Boredom/Self-harm/Sleep-fest." Amy, the Doctor and Alfie answered at the same time.

Rory looked at Amy a second before sitting straight again, "We relax," - the Doctor turned to the two women and mouth the word, they both grinned - "We live."

As the group had been talking, snow had gently began to fall. Although it was more like slush as it only made the ground even damper. Birds began to sing, and the dog had stopped barking.

"We listen to the birds." Rory indicated.

"Yeah, see," Amy agreed, looking beyond the group. "Those are nice."

"We didn't get a lot of time to listen to bird songs back in the TARDIS days, did we?" Rory asked the Doctor.

It hadn't started right away, but Alfie could feel her mind beginning to fog. Her vision started swimming and she tried to rub it out of her eyes.

"Oh, blimey, my head's a bit, uhh," the Doctor rubbed his face, wiping his fingers over his eyes. "Eh, no, you're right. There wasn't a lot of time bird song back in the good… old…"

All their heads began to bob and droop, Alfie slowly slid down the stone wall she'd been leaning on and landed on the ground with a quiet thud, "Uhh…"

* * *

><p>"Days." the Doctor said as he was jolted awake and stood up. "What? No, yes, sorry, what?"<p>

"What the hell?" Alfie asked as she woke up on the cold glass beside the console of the TARDIS, she sat up to quickly though and all the blood rushed into her skull. Her head began to throb. "Uh, my head."

"Ah, you're okay," the Doctor sighed with relief as he spotted Alfie, then Rory, then finally Amy. He ran up to the console floor and helped Alfie up to her feet, she wasn't too steady so he leaned her back against the controls. "I had a terrible nightmare about you two. That was scary. Don't ask. You don't wanna know. Safe now."

The Doctor hugged Amy and snapped his fingers at Rory before going round and giving Alfie a tight hug, to which she wrapped her arms around his neck, he let go after a few seconds and straightened his bow-tie, "That's what counts," - he spun around unnecessarily in a 360 degree circle before looking at all of them with a confused expression. "Blimey, never dropped off like that before," - he circled round the console, checking a few things - "I'm getting on a bit you see, don't let the cool gear fool you."

"We'll try not to." Alfie ran her hands through her hair and pushed herself away from the controls, feeling her balance had returned to her, although her stomach felt a bit uneasy.

"Hush. Now, what's wrong with the console?" the Doctor wondered as he glanced at everything. Two red bulbs were blinking in front of him. "Red flashing lights, I bet they mean something…" - he knelt down and examined underneath the console, trying to find any broken parts.

"As they do." Alfie spoke and flicked one of the bulbs lightly, just to see if it was a fault - although she doubted the TARDIS had any… besides her damaged chameleon circuit, but that was probably the Doctor's fault.

"I… Doctor I also had a kind of… dream… thing?" Rory said, trying to think how to word it.

"Yeah, so did I." Amy agreed, looking at Rory.

"Not a nightmare though. Just, um, we were married," he said smugly, smiling at his fiancée.

"Yeah, in a little village." Amy agreed and continued the dream.

"A sweet little village, and you were pregnant." Rory remembered.

"Yes, I was huge. I was a boat." Amy complained almost.

"So you had the same dream then? Exactly the same dream?" Rory asked. The Doctor came up behind him and pulled his hood down.

"Are you calling me a boat?" Amy asked as she stepped towards her soon-to-be husband.

"Doctor, you were visiting," Rory changed the subject, he looked towards the white haired Shifter. "And so was Alfie."

"Yeah, yeah you came to our cottage," Amy continued, the Doctor lifted the side of her jacket away and looked at her stomach. She looked over at Alfie. "And you came from some space bar drunk. Youse were playing hide and seek."

"Oh, I remember that bit." Alfie grinned coyly, remembering the party she had been at before Amy had called her.

"How can we have had exactly the same dream? That doesn't make any sense." Rory commented.

"And you had a nightmare about… us. What happened to us in the nightmare?" Amy asked worriedly, side glancing at Rory.

"It was a bit similar in some aspects." He replied, looking from Amy to Rory, and vice versa.

"Which aspects?" Rory asked specifically.

"Well, all of them." the Doctor confessed.

"You had the same dream." Amy stated bluntly.

"Basically." was his reply.

"I'll say it now, I had a very nice dream." Alfie complimented, coming to lean against the console beside the group.

"You said it was a nightmare." Rory remembered.

"Did I say nightmare? No, more of a really good… mare," the Doctor tried to cover up, and Alfie groaned into her hand at his fail. "Look it doesn't matter. We all had some kind of Psychic episode, so we probably just jumped a time track or something. Forget it. We're back to reality now."

The birds from before started chirping loudly, but there wasn't any birds in the TARDIS. Alfie quickly glanced around the control room to make sure though.

"Doctor, if we're back to reality, how come I can still hear birds?" Amy questioned, looking all around.

"Yeah, the same birds, the same ones we heard in the-"

* * *

><p>"Dream," Rory finished. He and the Doctor were leaning their heads together, but they quickly jumped away and sat up straight. "Uh, sorry. Nodded off. Stupid. God I must be over doing it. I was dreaming we were back on the TARDIS," - the Doctor leaped up and went to check on Alfie while Rory looked over at Amy - "You just had the same dream, didn't you?"<p>

"Back on the TARDIS, weren't we just saying the same thing?" Amy asked.

The Doctor checked Alfie over before helping her up, they grinned at each other before he went and picked up a stone, he inspected it closely before dropping it.

"But we thought that this was the dream, didn't we?" Rory asked his very pregnant wife.

"I think so, why do dreams have to fade so quickly?" Amy asked as Rory stood up off of the bench and she need to use a bit more effort to get up.

"Doctor what is going on?" Rory asked as he and Amy walked over to him, Alfie bounced her back off of the wall and followed them.

"This because of yous? Is it some Time lord-y thing because you've shown up again?" Amy asked.

"Hey, you phoned me. I'm just a Shifter." Alfie said defensively.

"listen to me, trust nothing, from now on trust nothing you see, hear or feel." the Doctor warned the three.

"But we're awake now." Rory protested, indicating around him with his arms.

"You thought you were awake on the TARDIS too." the Doctor disagreed.

"But we're home." Amy denied, looking at the village she and Rory had been living in.

"Yeah, you're home, you're also dreaming. The trouble is Rory, Amy, Alfie; which is which?" the Doctor questioned. "Are we flashing forwards, or backwards? Hold on tight, this is gonna be a tricky one."

"You never could do it the easy way." Alfie commented as she toothily smiled and slipped her hands into her front jeans pockets.

* * *

><p><strong>There's part 1 of Amy's Choice done, depending on how much I write, this should be finished in two or three more chapters. Not the story - the episode.<strong>

**Hope you enjoyed reading. Don't forget to review!**


	8. Amy's Choice: Dreams and Shadows

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German sheppard, I own all the rights to her. I also own all the rights to Shadower, who you will meet in this chapter, in the other(s) to come.

**Author's Note** Thanks to Shifuni for reviewing Chapter 7. I really enjoy reading feedback from you FanFic-lovers, what you think of this story is important, otherwise there isn't much point in writing it - apart from pleasing my imagination.

* * *

><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter Eight** - **Amy's Choice: Dreams and Shadows**

Rory and Amy jumped awake sitting on the jump seats while the Doctor was thrown from the steps towards the Console and he grabbed onto a lever.

"This is bad," the Doctor stated as he let go and stepped away. "I don't like this," he turned around to the console again and gave it a kick. The impact made a ding sound, and would likely leave a bruise on the Doctor's shine as he grabbed it. "Never use force, you just embarrass yourself. Unless you're cross, in which case always use force!"

Alfie groaned and slid out from beneath the Console on her back, having accidentally slid into a gap when she'd fallen asleep. She stood up and ran a hand through her hair, she was back on the TARDIS again.

"Shall I run and get the manual?" Amy asked as the Doctor went beneath the Console platform.

"I threw it into a Supernova." the Doctor confessed.

"You threw the manual into a Supernova? Why?" Amy asked, as if it was the most bizarre thing she'd ever heard.

"Because he disagreed with it." Alfie informed the red-head as she went and stood beside her against the rails.

"Stop talking to me when I'm cross!" the Doctor ordered and waved his finger up at them through the glass.

"Okay, but whatever's wrong with the TARDIS, is that what caused us to dream about the future?" Rory asked, trying to figure it out in his head.

"Well if we were dreaming of the future-" the Doctor had started to say as he came back up.

"Of course we were," Amy interrupted him. "We were in Leadworth."

"Upper Leadworth." Rory corrected her, Amy looked over and gave him a look.

"Yeah, and we could still be in Upper Leadworth dreaming of this," the Doctor told them as he handed Amy a Spanner, Alfie a pair of Pliers, and Rory a clamp-like thing. "Don't you get it?"

"No, okay? No, this is real," Amy protested. "I am definitely awake."

"Yeah, and you thought you were definitely awake when you were all," the Doctor stretched out his arms and puffed his cheeks out, trying to show an example of what he was trying to say. "Elephant-y."

"Hey," Amy held the spanner up warningly in his face. "Pregnant."

"And you could be giving birth right now, this could be the dream. I told you, trust nothing we see, or hear, or feel," the Doctor reminded them. "Look around you, examine everything. Look for all the details that don't ring true." - he looked at the spanner Amy was holding and grabbed it off her, he snatched Rory's away from him and slipped Alfie out from between her fingers.

"Okay, well we're in a Space ship that's bigger on the inside than on the outside." Rory started, walking towards the Doctor.

"With a bow-tie wearing Alien and a Shape-shifting dog." Amy continued. Alfie was about to correct her about her being a Shape-shifting dog, that she was a Shape-shifting woman, but decided against it.

"So maybe 'what rings true' isn't so simple." Alfie suggested as she leaned back against the Console and folded her arms across her chest.

"Valid point," the Doctor agreed with them. The humming noise the TARDIS made sounded as if it were draining away as all the lights dimmed and they were left in darkness, the central moving part of the console glowed with an eerie blue light though. The Doctor looked up at it unhappily. "It's dead."

"What do you mean dead?" Alfie asked disbelievingly as she turned around and faced the controls.

"We're in a dead Time machine," the Doctor repeated. That was when the birds started singing again and the light died away, leaving them in complete darkness now. Rory went over and hugged Amy, and although Alfie could see in the dark, she moved closer to the Doctor, leaning her back against his as she looked all around. "Remember, this is real. But when we wake up in the other place, remember how real this feels."

"It is real, I know It's real." Amy assured him, her arms resting on Rory's.

* * *

><p>A line of kids was walking down the road lead by a teacher when Alfie, Rory and Amy woke up sitting on a bench, the Doctor was standing in front of them. Alfie was the first to get up and went over to the Doctor.<p>

"Okay, this is the real one. Definitely this one, it's all solid." Amy justified her reason. Rory went to lay his hand on her stomach, but she slapped it away.

"It felt solid in the TARDIS too, you can't spot a dream while you're having it," the Doctor stated, and did a weird wavy motion with his hand in front of his face.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Rory asked and looked at him oddly as Alfie chuckled a little.

"Looking for motion blur, pixilation. It could be a computer simulation," the Doctor pinched Rory's cheeks. "I don't think so though."

"Damn good computer if it is." Alfie complimented with a nod of her head.

This was when an elderly woman was walking past them, she looked up and smiled at Rory, "Hello doctor."

"Hello." Rory replied with a wave of his hand.

"Hi," the Doctor said at the same time, he looked around at Rory with a questioning look. "You're a Doctor?"

"Yeah, and unlike you I've actually passed some exams." Rory replied smugly, feeling proud of himself.

"A doctor, not a nurse. Just like you've always dreamed," the Doctor started walking away, and Alfie looked at Rory and Amy before following him, her tags clinking together quietly. "How interesting."

"What is?" Rory questioned defensively.

"Well your dream wife, dream job, probably your dream baby. Maybe this is your dream." the Doctor accused and spun around to look at him.

"It's Amy's dream too, isn't it Amy?" Rory asked his wife.

"Yes. Course it is." Amy agreed quickly, maybe a little too quickly.

"Yeah." Rory smiled, then Amy repeated it.

"What's that?" the Doctor asked and pointed over his shoulder.

"Old peoples' home." Amy replied, looking from said place to the Doctor.

The Doctor turned round and studied the place, Alfie did the same. Looking out from all of the windows was at least one elderly villager, just staring at them with a blank look.

"You said everyone here lives into their 90's, there's something that doesn't make sense," the Doctor though aloud before a toothy smile spread across his face. "Let's go poke it with a stick."

"The last time I heard you say that I was shot by a Sontaran." Alfie groaned as the Doctor ran off and Rory followed him.

"Uhh, can we not do the running thing?" Amy asked and put her hands against her lower back, Alfie stayed with her though and walked to the Elderly peoples' home. The two of them made it inside not far behind the two men though.

Alfie scrunched her nose at the smells that attacked her sensitive nose; musky, old scent that clung to everything in the place made her stomach twist a little. Lurking behind every corner, hiding beneath every bed in the place was Death. Just lying and waiting for his chance to take a soul or two. Don't get her wrong, Alfie had enjoyed a cheerful afternoon having a cup of tea with Death once, he was a rather pleasant skeleton when he dropped his hood and set his scythe down.

Rory was greeted warmly by the elderly folk as they walked into a room where a few of them were, things such as 'Hello doctor Williams' were said.

"Hello Rory love." One elderly woman greeted and had stopped her knitting to speak.

"Hello Mrs Poggit, how's your hip?" Rory asked as he leaned down a little.

"A bit stiff." She replied.

"Oh easy, D-96 compound, plus-" the Doctor was recommending.

"They don't have that here yet," Alfie corrected him before he could say anymore. "A bit soon to bring that up."

"Forget that." the Doctor told them.

"Who're your friends? Junior doctors?" Mrs Poggit asked.

"Yes." Rory agreed hesitantly, both the Doctor and Alfie were smiling brightly at the idea of being actual doctors.

"Can I borrow you? You're about the size of my grandson." Mrs Poggit asked the Doctor and held opened the bottom of the jumper.

"Uh," the Doctor hesitated for a moment before kneeling down, now Alfie was the only one smiling as she tried not to laugh. "Slightly keen to move on," - he said as the jumper was slid over his head and he stuck his arm through the sleeve - "Freak psychic schism to sort out."

"No kidding." Alfie rolled her eyes and slipped her hands into her front jeans pockets.

"You're incredibly old, aren't you?" the Doctor asked her as he leaned right up into her face.

"Doctor!" Alfie barged him, slapping the Doctor's shoulder. The birds song started again, they all fell to the floor, but not before Alfie knocked over one of the wooden tables with the back of her head.

* * *

><p>"Okay, I hate this," Amy was the first to talk as they all woke up lying on the console. The Doctor grabbed something and ran up the stairs. "Stop it Doctor because this is definitely real, it's definitely this one. I keep saying that, don't I?" - she asked Rory and Alfie, she nodded her head.<p>

"It's bloody cold." Rory commented.

"The heating's off." the Doctor called back.

"The heating's off." Rory repeated with an unhappy obvious tone.

"Yeah, put on a jumper, that's what I always do." the Doctor advised, smiling as he reappeared on the upper level.

"You liar, you don't wear jumpers." Alfie scoffed and laughed soon after, trying to imagine the Doctor wearing a jumper… no, couldn't picture it. And being a Shifter, her body temperature was a few degrees higher than a humans, so it would take a much lower temperature to effect her.

"Oh yeah, sorry about Mrs Poggit, she's so lovely though." Rory defended her.

"I wouldn't believe her 'nice old lady' act if I was you." Alfie advised him, though it was more of a warning. Mrs Poggit may have seemed alright, but Alfie had felt a mixture of vibes from the old lady. That may sound a bit hippy, but dogs are great at picking up on those kinds of things, Alfie was no different.

"What do you mean act?" Amy asked the white haired shifter.

"Everything's off. Sensors, core power; we're drifting," the Doctor spoke before Alfie could reply. He made his way back down to the console level. "The scanners down so we can't even see outside."

"We could be anywhere." Alfie pondered aloud.

"Someone, something is overriding my control!" the Doctor shouted.

"Well, that took a while," A stout man suddenly appeared as soon as the words had left the Doctor's mouth. He was wearing a dark grey tweed jacket, a red bow-tie, and a striped shirt. "Honestly, I'd heard such good things," - he began to make his way down the stairs - "Last of the Time lords, the oncoming storm. Him in the bow-tie."

"How did you get into my TARDIS?" the Doctor questioned seriously, not letting the new arrival out of his sight. "What are you?"

"What shall we call me? Well, if you're the Time lord, let's call me the dream lord." the man decided.

"Hello Dream lord, you can just call me reality." Alfie growled and stepped towards the man, but the Doctor hooked his finger around the belt loop on the back of her jeans and pulled her back to him, her back hit his chest with a solid thud and he wrapped an arm around her waist to stop her from trying anything else.

"Nice look." the Doctor complimented.

"This? No, I'm not convinced," the Dream lord indicated towards his own clothes. "Bow-ties?"

The Doctor slowly reached into the inside pocket of his jacket with his free hand and threw whatever he had found at the Dream lord, but it past right through him, "Interesting."

"I'd love to be impressed, but um, Dream lord. It's in the name, isn't it? Spooky, not quite there," the Dream lord disappeared, only to reappear behind them. They all swirled round to see him. "And yet very much here."

The Dream lord wasn't alone anymore, instead standing beside him at maybe five foot and a few inches was a creature, it's body was covered in smoky grey fur with crimson and black streaks through it. There was a long, thin furry tail that was long enough to reach the floor and then curl around its right foot. It had claws, three and then one as a sort of thumb - all bright red. Same as the claws on it's feet. It head was a skull, human in shape with an elongated jaw with jagged white teeth. The back of it's head was covered in fur as well, with two wolf-like ears also covered in fur attached to it's head. It didn't have any eyes, just dark, empty pits - eye sockets.

"What the hell are you?" Alfie growled at the thing.

"My name is Shadower," it introduced itself, it sounded male. As it spoke Alfie could see he had a sickly grey tongue. "I'm your worse nightmare."

"Oh I'll show you a nightmare if you want." Alfie offered as she slipped out of the Doctor's hold and headed towards the Creature, Shadower. But the Doctor grabbed the back of her jeans again and pulled her away.

"I'll do the talking, thank you," the Doctor took a step towards the Dream lord and stared at him. "Amy, want to take a guess at what… that is?"

"Um, Dream lord. He creates dreams." Amy answered, then looked at the Doctor, waiting to see if she'd gotten it right.

"Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks." the Doctor offered a number of answers.

"And what about the gooseberry here, does he get a guess? Or your pet, what about her?" the Dream lord asked, indicating to Rory and Alfie.

"I am nobody's pet." Alfie spat out, growling angrily.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Shadower purred and gave a low dark laugh, averting Alfie's attention from the Dream lord back to the creature - she felt like she should know him, she'd remember soon enough.

"Uh, listen mate, if anyone is the gooseberry around here, it's the Doctor." Rory denied, pointing to the Doctor instead.

"Well there's a delusion I'm not responsible for." the Dream lord confessed honestly.

"No, he is. Isn't he, Amy?" Rory asked the red-head.

"Oh Amy, you'll have to sort your men out," the Dream lord told her. "Choose even."

"I have chosen, of course I've chosen," Amy told him, the Doctor looked away and Alfie stared into his blue eyes with her own. Rory looked worried and glanced from the Dream lord back to his fiancée. Amy hit him in the stomach. "It's you, stupid."

"Oh good, thanks." Rory sighed in relief.

The Dream lord disappeared, then reappeared behind them again, but Shadower stayed put, "You can't fool me," he looked at her. "I've seen your dreams, some of them twice Amy. Blimey, I'd blush; if I had a blood supply, or a real face…"

"Where did you pick up this cheap Cabaret act?" the Doctor questioned as he stepped closer to the Dream lord.

"Me? Oh you're on shaky ground." the Dream lord warned playfully.

"Am I?" the Doctor asked.

"If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop," the Dream lord told him. "The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student… I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are," - the Dream lord looked over at Alfie and she growled a little - "I suppose a Shifter will have to do though. Where was I?"

"Um, you were-" Rory had started politely.

"I know where I was," the Dream lord disappeared and reappeared on the upper level of the TARDIS, but this time Shadower appeared beside him. "So here's your challenge. Two worlds; here in the time machine, and there in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake. And just to make it more interesting, you are to face in both worlds a deadly danger."

"Brilliant." Alfie mumbled and held the bridge of her nose as she felt the beginnings of a headache.

"But only one of the dangers is real. Tweet, tweet. Time to sleep," The Dream lord smiled charmingly, and the birds began to sing again. "Oh, or are you waking up?"

Rory was the first to collapse down onto the glass floor, Amy fell back against the console, the Doctor tried with all his might to stay up and awake. Alfie fought the fatigue as well, glaring at Shadower as her legs wobbled and she fell to her knees, the last thing she seen was his sickly grey tongue as he opened and closed his jaws before she fell to the floor on her stomach. The Doctor landed beside her seconds later, she stared into his blue eyes before her eyelids became to heavy for her to stay awake.

* * *

><p><strong>Ta Da. part 2 of Amy's choice, done. I think one more chapter might do it, if it's extra long.<strong>

**Hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review, those are always nice.**

**Oh, and if I use a word you don't understand, don't Google it. Because what Google tells you, and how I use the word could be two different things. Ask me in your review or feel free to PM me.**


	9. Amy's Choice: Attack of the Elderly

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German Shepherd, I own all the rights to her. I also own all the rights to Shadower, who you will meet in this chapter, in the other(s) to come.

**Author's Note** Thanks to Kurisetina, Shifuni, jinxedkitten13 and MysteryWriter97 for reviewing on the previous chapter. Also, this chapter is almost twice as long as chapter 8, I didn't mean to make it this long. There is going to be one more chapter (hopefully) after this until Amy's Choice is finished.

**Warning** Written while drinking Blue Bear (cheap version of Red Bull) and listening to Chameleon Circuit.

* * * this means they're still in the dream, but different scene

And the line the whole way across means TARDIS dream and Leadsworth Dream.

* * *

><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter Nine** - **Amy's Choice: Attack of the Elderly**

The four of them gasped as they woke up in the empty room that had been full of elderly folk a few moments ago, the Doctor jumping unsteadily to his feet immediately. Alfie jumped up on to her feet as well, holding the back of her head a little as she helped Rory and then Amy to their feet.

"This is bad. This is very, very bad," the Dream lord strolled into the room in a blue suit, he was holding a black sheet in his hands. "Look at this X-ray, your brain is completely see-through, but then, I've always been able too see through you, Doctor."

"Always? What do you mean always?" Amy asked, stepping closer and looking down at the short man.

"Now then, the prognosis is this; if you die in the dream, you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in next to no time," the Dream lord explained as the Doctor sat down in the chair Mrs Poggit had previously occupied, Alfie sat down on the arm rest next to him. "Ask me what happens if you die in reality."

"What happens?" Rory asked, staring at the stumpy man.

"You die, stupid," the Dream lord insulted him. "That's why it's called reality."

"Have you met the Doctor before? Do you know him?" Amy turned away and looked at the Time lord still wearing the jumper with the dog on it missing it's left sleeve. "Doctor, does he?"

"Don't get jealous, he's been around, our boy," the Dream lord told her, before looking over to Alfie, who hadn't moved from the arm rest. "Hasn't he, Alfie? But never mind that," - the Dream lord dismissed the comment before the white haired shifter could reply - "You've got a world to choose."

"Oh I hate you." Alfie mumbled to the Dream lord, but either he didn't hear her or ignored it.

"One reality was always too much for you doctor, take two and call me in the morning." the Dream lord advised, doing a phone-like shape with his hand before disappearing.

"Okay, I don't like him." Rory stated.

"Who is he?" Amy asked the two sitting on the arm chair as she folded her arms across her chest, although they rested on top of her stomach.

"We don't know." the Doctor replied simply.

"It's a big universe." Alfie explained, but their answers only seemed to make her angry.

"Why is he doing this?" Amy questioned.

"Maybe because he has no physical form, that gets you down after a while. So, he's taking it out on folks like us, who can touch, and eat, and feel." the Doctor glanced down at the ugly multicoloured jumper before standing up, bringing Alfie with him. He quickly removed the jumper and she took it off of him, throwing it into one of the empty seats sitting in the far corner.

"What does he mean 'deadly danger' though? Nothing deadly has ever happened here," Rory assured. "I mean, a bit of natural wastage, obviously."

"They've all gone," Alfie said as she and the Doctor looked around the room at all the empty chairs before their eyes finally met. "They've all gone."

No sooner had the words left her mouth was the Doctor running out of the room, Rory following behind a few seconds later, Alfie stayed with Amy as they followed the two out of the old peoples' home. It was cold enough to allow them to see their breath as it formed in little clouds of mist before disappearing. Across the road was a playground, where dozens of children were playing on swings, and roundabouts, and chasing each other around. A woman - who must have been their teacher - shepherded them towards the ruins of what had once been a castle of some sort. Alfie closed the door behind them as the Doctor ran over to the playground.

"Why would they leave?" Rory asked the Doctor.

"And what did you mean by Mrs Poggit's nice old lady act?" Amy questioned as they stopped just a little bit away from the play area, the ground was damp and muddy.

"One of my own little tawdry quirks, sniffing out things that aren't what they seem." Alfie replied with a little pride as she tapped her nose and looked all around at the bleak little village.

"So, come on, let's think. What are the mechanics of this reality split we're stuck in - time asleep exactly matches the time in our dream world, unlike in conventional dreams." the Doctor worked out aloud for the other three to hear.

"And we're all dreaming the same dream at the same time?" Rory asked, trying to work it out for himself.

"Yes, sort of a communal trance." the Doctor concluded.

"But they're really rare, and who would go through all this bother? Those things are complicated." Alfie contradicted with his idea.

"I'm sure there's a dream give away, a tell, but my mind isn't working because this village is so dull!" the Doctor shouted, getting a bit frustrated as he walked away. "I'm slowing down, like you two have."

"Ow," Amy made a puzzled sound as her hands flew to her stomach and she bent over. "Aw," Rory's mind seemed to go blank as he began to panic, Amy looked at Alfie, then the Doctor before her husband. "Really? Aw!"

"Oh god no!" Alfie whimpered and jumped to Amy's side, she didn't know what to do and bobbed up and down on the balls of her feet while she had her hands in her hair.

"It's coming!" Amy cried loudly and the Doctor held one of her arms and Rory held the other.

"Okay, okay, okay. You're a doctor, help her." the Doctor turned to Rory.

"You're a doctor!" Rory snapped back at the Doctor

"You're both doctors!" Alfie barked at the two idiotic men."It's okay, we're doctors," the Doctor confirmed as he crouched down in front of her and put his hands out as if he was about to catch a ball. "What do we do?"

"Okay, it's not coming." Amy said calmly and straightened up as she took a few breaths.

"Are you having a laugh?" Alfie raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"What?" the Doctor asked as he stood up straight.

"This is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet, so don't you call it dull again, ever," Amy threatened as she glared at the Doctor. "Okay?"

"Sorry." the Doctor mumbled.

"Yeah." Amy said as she pushed past the Doctor, Rory lingered for a few seconds before going after her.

"Well… at least she didn't slap you." Alfie tried to be optimistic, smiling unsurely as her gaze slid past the Doctor as she spotted an elderly grey-haired woman following the children slowly.

The Doctor looked over his shoulder and watched the old woman as well before Alfie began following the couple, he jogged past her and Rory, slowing a little once he'd reached Amy and they both sat down on one of the swings. Although Rory didn't seem happy about the Doctor taking the other swing beside Amy, so took to standing behind his wife instead, Alfie leaned against the bar frame beside the Doctor.

"Now, We all know there's an elephant in the room." the Doctor started as he swung backwards and forwards.

"I have to be this size, I'm pregnant." Amy retorted defensively, glaring at the Doctor before turning her head away.

"I don't think that's what he meant." Alfie said carefully, not wanting to turn the ginger's rage onto her.

"No, no, the hormones seem real; but no," the Doctor spoke as he paused his swinging for a moment before continuing. "Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail?"

Amy couldn't help it by this stage and turned round grinning to the Doctor, her angry face replaced by a grin as she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing, Alfie was in the same position - but she didn't want to be rude and laugh at him.

"Yous hold him down, I'll cut it off." Alfie offered through a wide smile, making a scissor motion with her index and middle fingers, Amy couldn't help it and laughed despite how angry she had been before.

"This from the man in the bow-tie and the woman with the white hair." Rory shot back quickly, hurt that they were mocking his hair-style.

"Hey, white hair is a natural colour." Alfie spoke back defensively.

"Yeah, for old people." Rory reminded her.

"Let's not go there." Alfie crossed her arms over her chest and looked over to the old woman, she turned slightly and Alfie could see that is was Mrs Poggit. Alfie may not look that old, but she was nearly three and a half centuries old - she had already lived fifteen times longer than Rory had, and the Doctor less than three times as long as her.

"And bow-ties are cool," the Doctor replied with a smile before he slid off the swing and paid some attention to Mrs Poggit, who was watching the children play with an eerie stare. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't hire Mrs Poggit as a baby-sitter."

Alfie could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as the elderly woman turned her attention away from the children and towards the four.

"What is she doing?" the Doctor mumble as he watched the old lady. "What does she want?"

The snow was beginning to fall a little heavier now, and the loud singing of the familiar bird began to play.

"Oh, here we go." Amy commented as their eyes began rolling into the backs of their heads as they tried to fight away the sleep unsuccessfully. They all hit the muddy ground almost in sync, their bodies making thudding sounds as they dropped.

* * *

><p>Alfie jumped to her feet and leaned against the TARDIS' console, the Doctor had gotten up before her and was trying to work things out. Alfie looked towards the sound of shoes on glass and spotted Amy and Rory.<p>

"It's really cold. You got any warm clothing?" Amy asked the Doctor, her arms wrapped around herself as she tried to keep warm - she looked like she was giving herself a hug.

"What does it matter if we're cold?" the Doctor snapped, frustration was rolling off of him like water off a duck's back. "We have to know what she's up to."

Amy and Rory were swallowed into a stunned silence, shocked that the Doctor had raised his voice. Alfie looked at the pair before softly tapping the elbow pad of the Time lord's jacket, "Doctor."

The Doctor looked at the white haired Shifter before averting his eyes towards the couple and seen their faces, "Sorry, sorry, um…" the Doctor hid his face with his hands as he had a quick think. "There should be some stuff down there. Have a look." - the defeated looking Time lord pointed behind him down one of the numerous hallways.

Amy lingered for a moment staring at the Doctor before walking off to find something warm to wear, Rory followed after a moment - but not before jerking the zip of his hoodie up and giving the Doctor a stare.

"Well, nice to know we're all friends again," Alfie sighed and watched as Amy and Rory disappeared out of her line of vision, but she could still hear them. If you hadn't been listening, then you wouldn't have been able to pick up the hint of sarcasm in her voice. "You don't have a coffee machine or anything, do you?"

The Doctor stared at her for a moment before walking away and jumping down the staircase, Alfie watched through the glass floor as he slid beneath the TARDIS' console, she quickly followed him. The Doctor set a white tin cup on top of a black box, when Alfie came up behind him she saw it was an old coffee machine - although it didn't look like it worked. The Doctor turned the handle, and it broke off, so he hit it instead and the front of it fell open to reveal (not coffee machine parts, but) random bits and bobs.

"Doctor?" Alfie spoke, said Time lord froze for moment before continuing with the whisk he was tinkering with. "What's up, Doc?"

"Don't call me that," the Doctor said softly over his shoulder. "I don't like it."

"Why do you think I call you it?" Alfie asked and smiled before leaning her back against the bench the 'coffee machine' was sitting on, she could see his face now and he didn't seem happy, she bumped his shoulder. "Hey, cheer up. You'll figure this all out, just like you always do."

"How can you be so sure?" the Doctor asked, finally looking away from the random items and straight into her different eyes.

"Because I'm here now." Alfie smiled, and the Doctor smiled as well after a few seconds.

Meanwhile Rory and Amy were on the other side of the TARDIS, Rory was trying to keep his hands warm beneath his armpits while Amy searched for blankets.

"I want the other life," Rory confessed. "You know? Where we're happy, and settled, and about to have a baby."

"But don't you wonder, if that life is real, why did we give up all this?" Amy questioned and folded her arms across her chest. "Why would anyone?"

"Because we're going to freeze to death?" Rory offered.

"The Doctor'll fix it." Amy assured and threw a pinkish blanket out of the trunk at him.

"Okay…" Rory said as he unfolded the blanket. "Because we're going to get married."

Rory wrapped Amy in the blanket and they both laughed, it was actually a lot bigger than it had first seemed, and did it's job in trying to keep her warm.

"We can still get married," Amy promised. "Someday…"

"You don't want to anymore," Rory concluded and the smile fell from his face. "I thought you'd chosen me, not him."

"You are always so insecure." Amy sighed and went to look for another blanket.

"You run off with another man." Rory shot back.

"Not in that way." Amy disagreed.

"It was the night before our wedding!" Rory tried to keep his voice down and it came out as a loud whisper.

"We're in a time machine," Amy pointed out. "It can be the night before our wedding for as long as we want."

"We have to grow up eventually." Rory told her.

"Says who?" Amy challenged as she found another blanket and walked past Rory up to the upper level of the console room.

Alfie was winding some sort of whisk-like mechanism that the Doctor had handed to her.

"Ah," the Doctor said as he seen the blankets Amy had found. He took the object out of Alfie's hands and handed it to the only other male on the TARDIS. "Rory, wind. Amy, could you attach this to the monitor please?"

"I was promised amazing worlds," Rory stated, sounding like he was going to go into a big speech about it. "But instead I get Duff central heating and a weird… kitchen-y wind-up device."

"It's a generator." the Doctor corrected.

"So get winding." Alfie continued. "Chop, chop."

"It's not enough." Amy said a few moments later.

"Rory, wind." the Doctor ordered as he switched sides on the TARDIS.

"Why is the Dream lord picking on you?" Rory asked as he wound the thing faster. "Why us?"

Alfie felt a bit sorry for Rory as the little device the Doctor had made was only doing a little she reached for the console and flicked one of the many switches, the monitor flickered on and they all moved towards it to see what was out there.

"Where are we?" Amy asked as all they could see was the darkness of space lightened slightly by tiny stars.

"We're in trouble." the Doctor replied.

"What is that?" Rory pointed to the monitor when a small blue ball appeared on the screen.

"A star," the Doctor replied, studying the thing. "A cold star."

The Doctor ran to the door, Alfie realised what he was going to do when he'd first moved and had grabbed his arm, but the Time lord was stronger than he looked and dragged Alfie along with him.

"No, no, no, no. Don't open the-" Alfie was trying to stop him, but the Doctor opened the blue wooden door and a frosty white light shot into the TARDIS, making her colder than she already was. "Door."

"That's why we're freezing, it's not a heating malfunction, we're drifting towards a cold sun," the Doctor shouted over to them, his voice ringing in Alfie's ears. "There's our deadly danger for this version of reality."

Alfie closed the door as soon as the Doctor had moved away a little, he walked towards the monitor and she walked up and leaned against the console with her arms crossed over her chest.

"So this must be the dream, there's no such thing as a cold star, stars burn." Amy stated.

"So is this one, it's just burning cold." the Doctor informed them.

"Is that possible?" Rory asked as he rubbed his arms furiously to try and keep them warm.

"If there was every a good time to be a Shifter, now would be it." Alfie commented, her body temperature was few degrees higher than Amy and Rory's, even the Doctor's, she wouldn't get as cold as them for a little bit.

"I can't know everything. Why does everyone expect me to always-" the Doctor came up to the upper level and waved his finger at them.

"Okay, this is something you haven't seen before, so does that mean this is the dream?" Rory tried to work out.

"I don't know, but there it is," the Doctor stated, gesturing towards the giant burning ball of ice. "And I'd say we've got about fourteen minutes until we crash into it. But that's not a problem."

"Because you know who to get us out of this?" Rory asked hopefully.

"Because we'll have frozen to death by then," Alfie shattered that little bit of hope he had had. The Doctor grabbed a stethoscope and was putting it on the TARDIS' console. "Well, yous will probably be dead, I don't know about me. Never stayed in anything below minus eighty-four degrees before."

"Then what are we going to do?" Amy growled out.

"Stay calm, don't get sucked into it. Because this just might be the battle that we have to lose." the Doctor told the three of them, a red light began to flash and an annoying beeping sound came with it.

"Oh this is so you, isn't it?" Rory asked as he eyed the Doctor.

"What?" the Doctor asked as he looked at Rory.

"Huh, what a weird new star, only fourteen minutes left to live and only one man can save the day." Rory spoke and pointed at the Doctor. "Huh? I just wanted a nice village and a family."

"Stop it, you're acting like children." Alfie sighed.

"She's right Doctor. Oh dear, dissent in the ranks," the Dream lord continued. "There was an old Doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away. He let down his friends and…" - the birds began to sing again - "Oh no, we've run out of time. Don't spend to long there, or you'll um, catch your death here."

* * *

><p>The four sat up quickly and got to their feet, the Doctor in the lead. Amy and Rory stared in awe as they watched Alfie's body change from that of a woman to a white furred German Shepherd as she raced after and past the Doctor into the ruins, they were right behind the Doctor as they climbed up the wooden steps. The three watched Alfie sniff a pile of grey dirt for a few seconds before moving to the next one and then the next one, along with the dirt were yellow bags and a few juice bottles. There was nobody about though besides themselves.<p>

"Where have the children gone?" the Doctor asked before he proceeded to scan the dirt with his Sonic Screwdriver

"Dunno. Playtime's probably over," Rory answered before taking in a deep breath and groaning loudly. "You see? This is the real one, I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"

"I feel it both places." Amy told her pony-tailed husband as she watched the Doctor and Alfie as they investigated the piles of dirt.

"I feel it here," Rory confessed without a doubt. "It's just so… tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."

The Doctor had lifted one of the yellow bags up and the dirt poured out of it before he dropped it.

"Not really me though, is it? I mean, would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops and a really bad amateur dramatics society?" Amy asked Rory, who didn't look happy at all. He was about to disagree when she cut him off. "That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing Oklahoma. Doctor, what are you doing? And what are those piles of dust?"

Alfie sniffed one of the dust piles over to the far side of the area and even licked the side of the mound, her snout scrunched up as she turned away and sneezed before her body morphed back into it's human form - a sickly look was across her face as she walked over to the Doctor, who grabbed a hand full of the dust and watched it fall through his fingers.

"Playtime's definitely over." the Doctor replied, a far from happy look on his face.

"Oh my God." Amy breathed out as she stared at the piles of ashes surrounded by pencils, and paper, and little bottles of juice.

"What happened to them?" Rory asked in shock as Alfie walked over and stood against the wall beside them.

The Doctor watched as the elderly villagers started walking down the road and rushed towards the wall between Amy and Rory, Alfie was watching them with suspicious eyes.

"I think they did." the Doctor replied.

"They're just old people." Amy said sceptically.

"No…" Alfie disagreed.

"They're very old people." the Doctor finished for her as he ran down the wooden steps, the other three at his heels. "Sorry, Rory. I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive."

The number of old people seemed to double by the second until it looked like the whole village's elderly population seemed to be standing near the road. As they were walking towards them, the Dream lord appeared - but no Shadower.

"Hello, peasants," the Dream lord greeted. "What's this? Attack of the old people? Oh that is ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Alfie? Should you just go and wipe them all out before they get any closer? Stain your fangs red with blood once again?"

Alfie clenched her teeth together as her hands curled into fists at her sides, she knew what the Dream lord was getting at. In her life-time she had fought in three wars, two with the human race, and one on her home planet. It had been when she was still just a pup of maybe thirty or forty years of age and there had been a slaughtering war against four tribes, she had killed hundreds to keep her pack safe - and unintentionally had become a legend. She hadn't been proud, and after her planet had healed of the war - she fled as far as she could, to planet Earth.

"Leave her alone." the Doctor warned the Dream lord fiercely, knowing what it was like to participate in a war you didn't want to play your part in.

"Do that again. I love it when he does that. Tall, dark hero. 'Leave her alone.'" the Dream lord mocked him. And all of a sudden, a creature rose up out of the ground. The mud slid off of it's… fur, and was revealed to be Shadower. The black and red streaks in his fur were much more prominent than they had been earlier, there seemed to be less grey fur and more of the black and red.

"Let's go destroy more lives." Shadower growled suggestively as he stared at Alfie, or looked to be staring at Alfie - it was hard to tell because he had no eyeballs.

"Drop it, drop all of it. We know who yous are." the Doctor stepped in before Shadower could say any more.

"Course you don't." the Dream lord replied confidently.

"Course we do," the Doctor disagreed just as confidently as a smirk crept over his face. "No idea how yous can be here, but there's only two people in the universe who hates us as much as yous do."

"Well, I wouldn't say hate," Alfie spoke as she watched Shadower carefully, his ears remained motionless as the end of his tail twitched. "More of an unfriendly acquaintance."

"Never mind us, maybe you should worry about them." the Dream lord suggested and his eyes shifted over to the approaching mob of elderly folk. They all looked around towards the villagers, when they looked back - the Dream lord and Shadower had vanished.

"Hi." Rory greeted the mob.

"Hello." Amy said quickly after.

"Hey." Alfie greeted them as well, not knowing what else to say.

"Hello!" the Doctor called out. "We were wondering where you'd went. To get reinforcements by the look of it. Are you alright? You look a bit tense."

"Hello Mr Nainby." Rory greeted the man in front of him.

"Rory…" the Doctor warned.

"Mr Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee." Rory assured the Doctor.

My Nainby on the other hand reached forward and grabbed Rory by his shirt collar and hoisted him onto the tip of his toes.

"Did I not say thank you?" Rory asked before Mr Nainby threw him backwards a good few feet. "How did he do that?"

"I suspect he's not himself. Don't get comfortable here, you may have to run. Fast." the Doctor glanced at Amy before back to the mob standing in front of them.

"Can't we just talk to them?" Amy suggested as she had her hands on her stomach.

All of the elderly peoples' mouths opened and green alien eyes appeared from the dark. They stood in shock with their eyes widened as the Doctor scanned Mrs Poggit with his Sonic Screwdriver, the top of it glowing green.

"There is an eye in her mouth." Amy stated wide eyed about Mrs Poggit as Rory hid behind her. Alfie was curious about the scene, but didn't want to get too close just in case.

"There's a whole creature inside her. Inside all of them. They've been their for years," the Doctor informed them. "Living and waiting."

"That is disgusting," Rory commented, revolted by the eyes looking out from the elderly peoples' mouths. "They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else, are they?"

Mrs Poggit was the only one to react, releasing a vile green spray of mist from her mouth. The Doctor pushed Amy, Rory and Alfie behind him protectively.

"My nose!" Alfie covered her nose with her hands as she squeezed her watery eyes shut, the mist smelt like a mix of rotten eggs and decay - the scent was burning her nose. "What have yous been eating!"

"Okay; leave them, leave them. Talk to me," the Doctor told the mob of aliens as Rory and Amy ran, they tried to bring Alfie with them - but she refused. "Talk to me. You are Eknodines, a proud ancient race. You're better than this, why are you hiding away here? Why aren't you at home?"

"We were driving from our pl-" Mrs Poggit spoke up.

"-Planet by upstart neighbours." the Doctor interrupted her.

"So we've-" Mr Nainby continued.

"-Been living inside the bodies of old humans for… years. No wonder they lived so long, you've been keeping them alive." the Doctor interrupted again, then coming to his conclusion.

"We were humbled and destroyed," Mrs Poggit explained. "Now we will do the same to others."

"That doesn't sound good." Alfie said softly, meeting the Doctor's eyes as he looked around at her before back at the elderly.

"Okay, makes sense I suppose. Incredible enough, could be real." the Doctor backed away from them until he was standing beside Alfie.

"Morning." A young guy greeted as he pushed his bike past the swing set.

"No!" Alfie tried to stop him. But Mrs Poggit screeched and sprayed the mist at him, the pair watched in horror as the guy burst into ash. Alfie's eyes began to water again as the powerfully sick aroma burned her sensitive nose.

"You need to leave this planet." the Doctor commanded, staring at Mrs Poggit - she seemed to be the ringleader, the head-Alien.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"Wait… stop…" Amy gasped for breath as she followed Rory across the dirt road, a flock of Geese honked loudly and continued on their way.

"After all the things I've done for the over-Seventies in this village," Rory complained as he lead Amy up to their house, but an old woman blocked their pathway. "Okay, this is crazy. She loves me, I fixed her depression. She's just a little old lady."

"Mrs Hamill, we don't understand." Amy told the old lady, who then opened her mouth an screeched as an eye appeared. The couple stepped way from the alien-woman.

"I'll deal with this one Chubs," Rory told his wife after grabbing onto a bit of confidence, although Amy didn't appear to pleased about the Nickname. "Now-"

Mrs Hamill screeched again and sprayed a cloud of green mist towards them, Amy ducked out of the way and Rory hid behind a hedge before she began moving forward towards them. Rory seen a chunk of wood at his feet and quickly picked it up, he made as if to hit the elderly lady - but stopped.

"I can't hit her." Rory confessed to Amy as he stepped back as the alien stepped closer.

"Whack her!" Amy ordered her husband.

Rory obeyed after a few seconds and smashed the piece of wood against the old lady's shoulder. It shattered into splinters and Mrs Hamill fell into the hedge. The couple ran into their house and locked the door, Amy fell onto the stairs.

"We just ran away," Amy gasped as she tried to catch her breath. "We just abandoned the Doctor and Alfie. Don't ever call me Chubs again," - she warned her husband - "We don't see them for years, and somehow we don't really… connect anymore and then, then they take the bullet for us."

"Hey, they'll be fine," Rory assured Amy as he lifted up a small oval-shaped coffee table. "You know the Doctor, He's Mr Cool. And Alfie's all shape-shifter-y."

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

The Doctor weaved on his feet and knocked into Alfie, making her stumble and almost fall. the birds had started singing again, and they had a mob of angry elderly people with aliens inside their bodies chasing them.

"No, no, no," Alfie groaned as she pushed herself up off of the pavement after tripping over the curb. She followed the Doctor into a Butcher's shop, where he slammed the door shut and flipped the little sign on the door to 'CLOSED'. "This is ridiculous."

"Oh I love a good Butcher's, don't yous?" the Dream lord asked the pair as he appeared behind the counter dressed in white clothes with a blue apron over the front of him, he had Skimmer sitting on his head. "We've got to use these places, or they'll shut down," - the Doctor moved to a white door and grabbed the keys as he tried to open it, Alfie had been caught off guard by the Doctor passing her and tripped over his foot when she tried to move, landing with a thud - "Oh but you're probably a vegetarian, aren't you, you big flop-haired wuss."

"Oh pipe down, I'm busy." the Doctor warned as he tried to open the door.

"Maybe you need a little sleep?" the Dream lord offered as Alfie got to her hands and knees as the birds began singing again, the Doctor slid down the door and landed onto the floor as Alfie shivered with the effort of trying not to lie down. "Oh wait a moment, if yous fall asleep here, several dozen angry pensioners will destroy yous with their horrible eye thingies."

The Doctor had gotten up and pulled Alfie to her feet before they both slipped past the Dream lord and made their way to the back of the shop, the birdsong was getting louder and the Doctor put his fingers in his ears to try and block it out, Alfie just covered her ears with her hands.

"Fingers in the ear, brilliant, what's next? Shouting 'boo'?" the Dream lord grinned as the Doctor slid to the ground again, Alfie tried to pull him to his feet as the birds grew louder - but she didn't seem to have the strength. "Come in, come in," - the Dream lord called as the elderly people entered the butcher's - "We've got lots at steak this week. Lots at steak. Get it?" - the Doctor jolted awake and got up, dragging Alfie as he made his way over to the giant freezer - "Are these jokes wasted on yous?"

The Doctor slid down the door onto the wood-dust covered floor, bringing Alfie down with him.

"Wait, wait! Stop!" the Doctor struggled to say as he got out his Sonic Screwdriver.

"Oh, I can't watch." the Dream lord groaned and covered his face with his hands.

The Doctor and Alfie jumped to their feet before he quickly unlocked the door and the two of them disappeared into the freezer, the Doctor slammed the door shut before locking it with the Sonic. There wasn't much space in the small, intimate area. Alfie swayed on her feet and had grabbed the Doctor's sleeve, which turned out to be her downfall as he slid onto the floor, bring the white-haired Shifter down with him as they fell asleep against each other.

* * *

><p><strong>There we are, chapter nine finished. If you didn't read above, this obviously isn't the last chapter of <strong>Amy's Choice**, chapter 10 should be the end of it, and then I'll start writing **The Hungry Earth**.**

**Don't forget to review and tell me what you think so far!**


	10. Amy's Choice: Darkest Souls

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German Shepherd, I own all the rights to her. I also own all the rights to Shadower, who you will meet in this chapter, in the other(s) to come.

**Author's Note** Thanks to Shifuni and MysteryWriter97 for reviewing chapter 9

* * *

><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter 10 - Amy's Choice: Darkest Souls**

"It's colder." Amy shivered and pulled her red blanket over her as the four of them sat up, but didn't make a move to go any higher.

"The four of us have to agree now which is the dream?" the Doctor decided as he buttoned his jacket closed and hugged it to his body.

"It's this, here." Rory replied immediately, his hands hidden beneath his armpits to fend off frostbite.

"He could be right," Amy agreed. "The science is all wrong here. Burning ice?"

"No, no, no. Ice can burn, Sofas can read. It's a big universe." the Doctor told the three.

"We have to agree which battle to lose, all of us." Alfie said as she rubbed the palms of her hands together, the tips of her fingers felt a bit tingly.

"Okay, which world do yous think is real?" Amy asked the Time lord and Shifter.

"I have no idea." Alfie replied, the answer not being of any help at all.

"This one." the Doctor said immediately.

"No, the other one." Rory argued.

"Yeah, but are we disagreeing, or competing?" the Doctor questioned him, and Alfie raised an eyebrow at the two men.

"Competing? Over what?" Amy asked, and the two gave her a look before she rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Nine minutes 'til impact." the Doctor said glancing at his watch before standing up, Alfie and Rory climbed to their feet as well.

"What temperature is it?" Amy asked, as she threw the blankets she had been cuddling onto the console.

"Outside? Brrr. How many naughts have you got?" the Doctor replied as he moved about in an effort to keep warm. "Inside? I don't know, but I can't feel my feet and… other parts."

Alfie tried not to laugh at the Doctor as she bit her lip, she did however walk over and hug the poor Time lord - who hugged her back. She still felt much warmer than he did, and he was a little jealous.

"I think all my parts are basically fine." Rory remarked confidently.

"Stop competing." the Doctor told him over Alfie's head.

"Can't we call for help?" Rory asked as he stepped over to the TARDIS' console and picked up the phone to show them.

"Yeah, because the universe is really quite small and there's bound to be someone near by." the Doctor let go of Alfie and took the phone off of Rory before bopping him on the forehead with it.

"Put these on," Amy said as she threw blankets she'd cut holes into at the Doctor and Alfie of them, the Doctor slipped his on straight away and Alfie put hers on as well - not because she needed it but because she was grateful for the thought. Amy went over to Rory and put the blanket over his head. "The both of you."

"Oh, a poncho," Rory realised what she'd put onto him. "The biggest crime against fashion since lederhosen."

"That was a scary year - never again." Alfie laughed as she had actually been visiting Germany when the men and young boys had started wearing them.

"Here we go," Amy said as she fixed her hair after putting her on poncho on, she looked at the two men with a grin as Alfie stood beside her leaning against the console. "Our boys, our poncho boys," - She smiled as the two women went and stood with the two. "If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian Folk band."

"We're not going to die." Rory said as the four of them stared at the large sphere of burning ice.

"No, we're not," the Doctor agreed as he glanced at his watch. "But our time's running out, if we fall asleep here we're in trouble," - her rubbed his hands over his face as he thought - "If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world. But the Dream lord is switching us between the worlds. Why, why? What's the logic?"

"Good idea, Veggie. Let's divide you four up so I can have a little chat with our lovely companion," the Dream lord suggested as he appeared and paced with the Doctor. "Maybe I'll keep her, and you can have pointy-nose and dog-breath to yourself for all eternity. Should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality."

"Oi, I do not have dogs breath!" Alfie snapped at the Dream lord as the birds began to sing again.

"Can you here that?" Rory asked the red-head.

"What?" Amy demanded, confused that they could here what she couldn't. "No."

"Amy, don't be scared. We'll be back." the Doctor promised as he and Rory fell to the floor.

"Rory? Doctor, don't leave me." Amy pleaded with the two men as they went still.

"Amy, we're going to have fun, aren't we?" the Dream lord grinned.

"He can't touch you," Alfie told Amy as she tried to hold herself up with the console, but her legs were wobbling and her eyelids were getting heavier. She turned to the Dream lord and stumbled drunkenly towards him. "You listen here, you leave her alone..." - Alfie warned before her knees buckled and she fell through the Dream lord onto the glass platform.

"No, please. Not alone." Amy breathed nervously as Alfie's body stopped moving

* * *

><p>Rory jolted awake sitting beside Amy on the stairs and his back hit the wall behind him, he jumped up when he heard the elderly people breaking through the living room window. He quickly grabbed Amy below her arms and dragged her up the stairs one step at a time.<p>

"Sorry," he apologised as her lower back hit the first step, and continued to apologise as she bumped against every step as the elderly people continued to break their way in. He dragged her across the carpeted landing and into the nearest bedroom before dropping her onto her back. "Sorry." - he apologised again before slamming the door shut, he spotted the crib against the wall near the window and walked over to it. He stared into it for a moment before looking out the window to see some of the elderly people pushing against the TARDIS. Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed a chair and propped it up against the door before sitting on it.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

The Doctor and Alfie woke up at the same time, both sitting on the floor slumped against the white door with their foreheads touching. Alfie sat up straight in surprise as the Doctor stood up with his ear against the door, listening to the screeching elderly people on the other side - Alfie didn't need to put her ear against the metal to hear the spine-shivering sound.

"Okay, where is it?" the Doctor mumbled as he got his Sonic Screwdriver out and searched for the right setting on it, Alfie climbed to her feet and waited for the Doctor to make his move.

The Doctor shoved the door open and - with the Sonic - caused the lamp above the aliens to explode, giving the pair their opportunity to escape. The Doctor reached behind him and grabbed Alfie's hand as he ran out of the Butcher's, they stopped in the middle of the road after hearing somebody shouting for help. The looked over and saw a man trapped inside a minivan being attacked by an old man.

"Oh you couldn't live near the shops, could you?" the Doctor asked rhetorically as he and Alfie ran towards the red minivan. Alfie grabbed the old geezer and pulled him away from the door as the Doctor opened in and the man moved into the back, Alfie dropped the old guy and jumped across the driver's side to the passenger's side before the Doctor hopped in and started the engine. They stopped at a playground where they saw two women cornered by a group of the elderly people.

"Get in, get in!" the guy in the back shouted after he'd opened the side door, and closed it before they were off again.

"Get them." Alfie pointed towards the family pressed against a fence and the Doctor stopped, they scrambled into the van and they drove quickly down the road.

* * *

><p>The outside of the TARDIS was quickly being covered in a layer of ice, while inside was like a winter wonderland - minus the wonder however. Amy sat all on her own on the stairs leading up to the third level of the TARDIS, her blanket wrapped tightly around her body.<p>

"Poor Amy," the Dream lord said as he appeared beside her. "He always leaves you, doesn't he? Alone in the dark. Never apologises."

"He doesn't have to." Amy replied as she walked away from him.

"That's good, because he never will," the Dream lord said to her. "And now he's left you with me. Spooky, old, not-to-be-trusted me," - he disappeared, only to reappear a second later on the jump seat closer to her wearing black leggings and a black shirt that left most of his chest bare. "Anything could happen."

"Who are you? And what do you want?" Amy asked as she eyed the Dream lord. "The Doctor and Alfie know you, but they're not telling me who you are. And he always does, takes him a while sometimes, but he tells me," - she took a few cautious steps towards the Dream lord - "So you're something different."

"Oh, is that who you think you are?" the Dream lord asked her. "The one he trusts?"

"Actually, yes." Amy replied curtly.

"The only girl in the universe to whom the Doctor tells everything?" the Dream lord continued as he stood up and approached her.

"Yes." Amy whispered to him.

"So what's his name?" the Dream lord asked her curiously before disappearing, only to reappear crouching down beside Alfie's body. Her skin wasn't frosted over, but her clothes were. "She's been there for him for a while now, she helped him heal again," - he went to brush some frost out of her hair, but his hand just past through her head - "He knows her name."

"Yeah, so do I," Amy said as she watched the Dream lord acting out of character - or out of character from what she's seen of him so far. "Her name's Alfie."

"No, that is the name you know her by, who she lives as," the Dream lord corrected her. "Shifter's have little need for such human names," - the Dream lord moved away from the white haired woman and squatted down between the Doctor and Rory - "Now, which one of these men would you really choose? Look at them. You ran away with a handsome hero, would you really give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a ponytail?"

"Stop it." Amy demanded and shook her head.

"Maybe it's better than loving and losing the Doctor," the Dream lord wondered aloud as he stood up. "He'll always choose her first," - he looked behind him at Alfie before back at Amy - "Pick a world, and this nightmare will all be over. They'll listen to you, it's you they're waiting for. Amy's men. Amy's choice."

The Dream lord disappeared, and Amy looked around the TARDIS waiting for him to reappear again. But he didn't. She reached down and fixed Rory's poncho before glancing from the Doctor to Alfie, she sighed before going and sitting back on the stairs all on her own.

* * *

><p>The Doctor hit the breaks and the minivan skidded to a halt outside a church, he jumped out and opened the side door, making all the people he'd saved get out and run to the stone building.<p>

"Everybody out, out, out," the Doctor said as the people - and even a dog - climbed out of the van and ran into the church. "Into the Church, that's right. Don't answer the door!"

The Doctor slammed the side door shut and hopped back behind the wheel, he and Alfie were on their way to find Amy and Rory in a short time, driving through the village out into the countryside where there was nothing but fields and the odd herd of farm animals.

"It's make your mind up time," the Dream lord said as he appeared in the back seat dressed in an orange one-piece suit holding a white helmet in his lap. "In both worlds."

"Bye," the Doctor said as he glanced from the rear-view mirror to the road a few times. "We need to find out friends."

"Friends? Is that the right word for the people you acquire?" the Dream lord asked mockingly. "Friends are people you stay in touch with. Your friends never see you again once they've grown up. The old man prefers the company of the young, does he not?"

"Ignore him." Alfie advised as the Dream lord disappeared and the Doctor drover faster.

The Doctor never answered her back and instead they both looked out the window as they came to Rory and Amy's home, a swarm of old people trying to break their way in with numerous different kinds of tools - one such elderly lady even had a lawn mower.

"Okay," the Doctor said as he got out of the van, Alfie got out a second later and the Doctor gave her a smile at his idea of getting to the couple. "Follow me."

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

Rory sat on the floor of the nursery staring at Amy as her head rested on his lap, her eyes fluttered open and she sat up.

"How did I get up here?" She asked and looked around the room.

"I carried you," Rory told her as he sat up on his knees. "I'm afraid you may experience some bruising."

"Where's the Doctor? And Alfie?" Amy asked as she realised neither were with them.

"I don't know. I want to do something for you." He replied as he reached behind him and rummaged through a little bag, pulling out a pair of blue handled scissors. He reached behind his head and Amy gasped as he snipped his ponytail off.

"I was starting to like it." She told him after he'd cut through the hair, to which he gave her a disbelieving look.

They both jumped as the window squeaked open, only for the Doctor to appear.

"Sorry, I had to stop off at the Butcher's." the Doctor apologised as he climbed through the window, but he seemed to have gotten a boost from behind him as he toppled onto the floor and Alfie appeared behind him, entering the nursery in a much more graceful manner. Despite the situation, Alfie tried to stop a laugh at the Doctor as he sprawled out on the floor, she gave him a hand to his feet as Amy and Rory followed.

"What are we going to do?" Rory asked them.

"I don't know," the Doctor said as he tried to catch his breath. "I thought the freezing TARDIS was real but now I'm not so sure."

"I hope this is the dream." Alfie said after she spotted an elderly man with a greying beard appear at the open window out of the corner of her eye, the other three didn't seem to have noticed him though.

"What do you mean-" the confused Doctor has started, but was cut off by Alfie grabbing the lapels of his tweed jacket and pulled him down into a deep, panicked kiss. The Doctor was stunned, of all the years they'd known each other Alfie hadn't shown this kind of interest in him. Sure they flirted, but it had been nothing serious.

Alfie pulled away and grinned sheepishly before jumping out of the window headfirst, tackling the old man as he had began to climb through the window. They both started to fall, but Alfie turned and grabbed the wooden edge of the windowsill. Her claws scraped against the wood as the old man had grabbed her leg, pulling her down with him, the Doctor had made a leap to try and catch her - but missed by a mere second.

"Alfie!" the Doctor shouted as he watched her and the old man fall. The elderly man hit the ground first and Alfie landed on his stomach.

"You lot are very resilient, aren't you?" Alfie asked as she stood up and raised her fists, ready to attack if provoked. "Bring it on."

They swarmed around her like Vultures waiting for their prey to die, they were quiet and still for a moment before they made their moves. They went for her all at once, which was what she had been expecting. Mr Nainby had a rake in his hands and he swung it at her, but Alfie grabbed the end of it and used it to knock the old man into two other elderly people, leaving a gap for her to escape, but she hadn't moved quick enough and more elderly people took their place. It put Alfie in mind of a horror movie she saw once about Zombies, and they acted a lot like these elderly people were at the moment. She never noticed the small grey-haired woman sneak up behind her and give her a rough shove to the back, Alfie stumbled and lost her balance, falling onto the ground in the middle of the circle she was now in - she spun round onto her rear end and looked up at the window she'd jumped out of, she caught a glimpse of the floppy-haired Doctor.

"Sorry, Doctor." Alfie apologised as the eyes appeared in the old peoples' mouths and they sprayed her with the green mist, within seconds she was turned to nothing but ash - the only thing left behind was her red dog collar.

Meanwhile inside the nursery Amy leaned over and her hands flew to her stomach.

"Oh," She groaned in pain. "I think the baby's starting."

"Honestly?" Rory asked uncertainly.

"Would I make it up at a time like this?" Amy shouted.

"Well you do have a history of-" Rory stopped what he was about to say as Amy gave him a look. "Being very lovely."

The Doctor was still standing near the open window he and Alfie had climbed in through, he was staring down at the grey pile of ash that lay on the grass, a grey pile of ash surrounded by a red dog collar - the only thing that had remained of Alfie.

"Why are they so desperate to kill us?" Rory shouted as Amy groaned.

"Because they're scared," the Doctor replied as he turned away from the window and looked at the couple. "And they should be."

At that moment something smashed through the other window, it rolled to a stop on the floor and they could see it was a garden gnome. Rory went over to see what had caused the damage to see Mrs Poggit at the window, she shot a spray of the green mist and it hit Rory. He cried out in pain and he stumbled backwards as the Doctor hit Mrs Poggit with a lamp, she rolled off of the roof and hit the ground with a thud.

"Rory!" Amy cried, and the Doctor turned round to watch the couple.

"No! I'm not ready," Rory said as he breathed in short sharp breaths, as he began to turn into dust, he looked lovingly over to Amy. "Look after our baby." - Amy watched as her husband melted away until he was nothing more than a pile of ash on the floor.

* * *

><p>Alfie jolted awake sitting on a computer chair behind a desk, the top of it was covered with files, and pens, and there was an empty blue mug sitting at the corner. She looked up from the desk and their stood Shadower in all his twisted glory.<p>

"Welcome to your nightmare." Shadower purred before he melted away into the shadows.

Along the walls hung dozens of weapons of different kinds, some were human while others were… less human.

"Are you just going to sit there all night or are you coming out for a drink?" a male voice asked before a face appeared around a corner - it was Jack, Captain Jack.

"I'm coming now," Alfie promised as she stood from her desk and looked all around her, she was back in Torchwood… had it all been a dream? Seeing the Doctor again, it had all seemed so real. She looked over at Jack and grinned. "I'm taking the front door."

"Spoil sport." Jack teased with a wide smile before disappearing from her view.

Alfie walked to the front and waved goodbye to Ianto as he opened the door for her, she stepped through and it slammed shut behind her. However, what lay in front of her wasn't Cardiff, but the inside of the TARDIS… the old TARDIS. Running around the console was a tall, skinny man with sideburns wearing a blue pinstriped suit. There was also a ginger woman standing and watching him, but it wasn't Amy. The man was the Doctor in his 10th incarnation, and the ginger woman was her friend - Donna Noble.

"Oh no." Alfie groaned loudly, causing the Doctor to stop moving about and stare at her with a big grin, Donna looked over and did the same.

* * *

><p>"No, no… come back," Amy whispered as she look from the ashes of her husband up to the Doctor. "Save him, you save everyone, you always do. It's what you do."<p>

"Not always," the Doctor replied, being painfully reminded of Alfie. "Sorry."

"Then what is the point of you?" Amy asked angrily, she looked away from the Doctor and put her hand into the dust in front of her. She used the drawers to get herself back onto her feet, the Doctor went as if to help her, but decides against it as she turned around to face him. "This is the dream. Definitely this one. If we die here we wake up, yeah?"

"Yeah," the Doctor clarified for her. "Unless we just die."

"Either way this is my only chance of seeing him again," Amy said, on the verge of tears. "This is the dream."

"How do you know?" the Doctor asked. It wasn't as if he wanted to stay either. Of all the people he'd seen die, he wished Alfie hadn't been one of them. She always seemed to be there for him, and he had let her down when it was her turn to need him.

"Because if this is real life, I don't want it," Amy told the Doctor forcefully. "I don't want it."

Amy left the Nursery and the Doctor followed, they made their way outside, but none of the elderly people made a move to approach them.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Amy shouted angrily, all the elderly people seemed to have frozen, but they watched the two closely.

"Either this is just a dream or because they know what we're about to do." the Doctor replied as he looked back at Alfie - or what was left of her, the tags on her collar glistened in the sun. Amy stopped in front of the minivan and stuck her hand out for the keys. "Are you very sure? This could be the real world."

"It can't be, Rory isn't here," Amy disagreed, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I didn't know, I didn't. I honestly didn't 'til right now. I just want him."

"Okay," the Doctor whispered and handed over the keys to her. "Okay." - Amy got in and started the engine, the Doctor was about to climb into the passenger's side when the Dream lord appeared, but he soon got in and slammed the door.

"I love Rory, and I never told him. But now he's gone." Amy confessed as she took the hand break off and revved the engine. They drove forward tight through a wooden fence into the garden and Amy aimed for the stone wall of her house, they hit it bang on.

* * *

><p>"Well, don't just stand there, come on." the 10th Doctor said as he shrugged on his brown overcoat and walked past Alfie through the way she'd just came in.<p>

"I wanted to go to the beach, but no…" Donna mumbled as she followed the Doctor out.

"This was the day I left for Torchwood," Alfie remembered. They went through the Library, met the Vashta Nerada, ran for their lives, and lost Donna at one point - but they'd gotten her back in the end. And Professor River Song, the brilliant woman from their future, she gave her life to save them all - save the Doctor as well. Alfie laughed sadly as the first time they'd met, Professor Song had stepped on her tail. After the whole said adventure, Jack called her in the TARDIS from Torchwood and asked for her help involving a gang of troublesome teenage Shifters, she said yes and the Doctor had dropped her off. She turned round and faced the door, not sure where she was going to end up now. "Here I go."

Alfie took a deep breath and stepped out of the TARDIS, closing the door behind her. She didn't however see the biggest Library in the Universe standing in front of her, but instead the inside of the TARDIS again - the 10th Doctor was at the console again, but this time a young black woman was watching him run about - Martha Jones.

"I'm going backwards." Alfie realised; she had seen the 10th Doctor and Donna before she'd left for Torchwood, and now in front of her was the same Doctor but with Martha, she had a feeling she knew where she'd be going next.

"You're what?" the Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked over at her curiously.

"Excited to know where we're going now." Alfie covered, smiling widely.

"How about the new Earth?" the Doctor flicked something on the console and they were thrown to the ground as the TARDIS landed. The Doctor was up first and helped the two women up before disappearing out of the TARDIS, Martha followed excitedly and Alfie followed at a slower pace - she held her breath as she stepped out of the blue box and heard the door slam shut behind her.

* * *

><p>Alfie jumped awake sitting on the cold ground of an alley and groaned at the stiffness in her neck, she looked down at her clothes to see they'd changed. Ripped blue jeans, dirty blue shirt, no shoes… she gave her socked toes a thoughtful wiggle.<p>

"It was all a dream…" Alfie whimpered as she rested her head back on whatever was supporting her back, which was when she realised she was sitting in the middle of the alley way. She looked over her shoulder to see the TARDIS, the one she'd sat down against and fallen asleep. She remembered being mugged of all her money and her shoes, then stumbling down the alley to the Police Box, after not being able to get it open she had just sat down on the ground against. All the adventures she'd been on, all the people she'd met, the whole thing had been a story in her head. "All of it."

"Maybe," A dark voice purred loudly behind her, and she spun back around to see Shadower grinning, his fur was much lighter, practically all grey now. "Good bye."

"Good bye? What do you mean-" Alfie was cut off by Shadower leaping at her, but she never felt him hit her. She watched as the creature went through her chest, right where her heart was - it took only seconds for Alfie to react to the burst of pain that bloomed behind her breastbone, she doubled over and gripped her shirt tightly as her heart felt as if someone was squeezing it. She was finding it hard to breath as she leaned against the TARDIS, but then all of a sudden, the pain stopped.

'_Play time is over_.' a voice purred in her head before it started snickering.

Alfie looked up and saw the 10th Doctor standing in front of her, before she could stop him his hand flew out and grabbed her around the neck, he lifted her up and held her against the side of the TARDIS, his eyes were two pools of dark raging lava.

"You left me!" the Doctor hissed angrily through his clenched teeth, his grip tightening that little bit more around her throat. "After all we'd been through, you left me for _Jack_!"

"I didn't." Alfie choked out, or tried to, all she had been able to say was 'I' and then 'didn't' had been a strangled noise.

"You did!" the Doctor pulled her back and whacked her against the TARDIS. "You said you'd never leave, you promised! And then you did!"

Alfie stared at the blue pinstriped suited Time lord and knew that no matter how angry he ever got, what he ever did, she could never hate him. Even if she wanted to or tried to, she could never.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS floated closer and closer to the gigantic sphere of burning white ice, inside meanwhile was covered in hundreds of thousands of millions of tiny crystals of frozen water, covering everything like a snowy blanket.<p>

The Doctor slowly opened his eyes, then Amy opened hers and watched as Rory opened his, she reached out and grabbed his icy had with her own. The only one who didn't wake up was Alfie.

"So, you chose this world," the Dream lord observed as he appeared. "Well done, you got it right."

The Doctor looked for Alfie, and he found her body at his feet, that was when he noticed she wasn't waking up.

"Where's Alfie?" the Doctor demanded as he looked up at the Dream lord.

"With my little pet," the Dream lord replied, smiling down viciously at the Doctor. "Our little pets together."

"Show me where she is." the Doctor snapped.

"You only had to ask." the Dream lord grinned slyly and the three watched as he snapped his fingers.

* * *

><p>The Doctor, Amy and Rory looked all around them as they appeared standing in an alley, a relatively wide alley. The ground was wet and covered in rubbish and bits of food people had dropped, they heard shouting coming from down the alley.<p>

"Where are we?" Amy asked, and wondered what all the shouting and banging was about.

"Where I first met Alfie." the Doctor told them, looking down towards the sound. A large blue Police Box stood out against the shadows, the TARDIS. The three watched as a man wearing a blue pinstriped suit held a white haired woman by her throat up against the TARDIS' front doors.

"You left me!" they heard the man shout angry and watched as he Alfie back against the blue doors roughly. "You promised! You promised!"

"Who is that?" Amy shouted as the Doctor ran down the alley towards them.

"Me." the Doctor shouted back as he reached the two, he tried to pull his past self away from her, but hadn't realised how strong he had been.

"You abandoned me!" past Doctor howled angrily. Not usually prone to violence, the Doctor looked all around him and found a green glass bottle. He quickly grabbed it and smashed it across the back of his past self's head, the bottle exploded on impact into dozens of pieces as the past Doctor fell to the ground. Alfie slid down the TARDIS' doors as she tried to catch her breath, but the Doctor quickly went over to her and helped her back onto her feet.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor asked her, checking her over.

"I'm fine," Alfie assured him as she began to catch her breath. "I'm fine."

They all looked to the entrance of the alley at the sound of a horn blaring to see a black car with tinted windows driving at them at full speed, the car screeched against the walls as it swerved from one side to the next, as if it had no driver at all.

"Oh dear." the Doctor squeaked.

"No, no, no!" Rory shouted as he grabbed Amy.

The Car straightened as it reached them.

* * *

><p>"Back so soon?" the Dream lord mocked as they woke again, Alfie cracked her eyes open and shivered slightly at the forgotten coldness of the TARDIS. "And with only seconds left. Fair's fair, let's warm you up," -The Dream lord was at the console flicking switches and pushing buttons, the TARDIS started humming again as the lights came back on - "I hope you've enjoyed your little fictions, it all came out of your imagination, so uh, I'll leave you to ponder on that. I have been defeated, I shall withdraw. Farewell."<p>

Amy and Rory sat up stiffly as Alfie rigidly stood up with the help of the railing and leaned against the console, the ice in her white hair shimmered before it quickly melted. The Doctor climbed shakily to his feet and hugged Alfie as tightly as he could, resting his frosted cheek against the side of her head as he felt her arms wrap around his waist.

"I thought I'd never see you again." the Doctor breathed into her ear as he let go and pulled away so he could see her.

"Sorry." Alfie whispered as she smiled.

The Doctor moved away and began spinning things, Alfie flicked a few switches and pushed a couple of buttons before pulling a little leaver across.

"Something happened," Rory gasped. "I… what happened to me? I…" - he couldn't form a proper sentence, but Amy leaned over and hugged him. "Oh. Oh, right. This is good, I am liking this. Was it something I said?" - he asked curiously, enjoying the embrace - "Can you tell me what it was so I can use it in emergencies, and maybe birthdays."

They were interrupted by the centre of the console beginning to move as the TARDIS hummed louder.

"What are we doing now?" Amy asked.

"What, us?" the Doctor motioned between himself and Alfie as he tried to turn a stiff black wheel and she continued to push buttons. "We're going to blow up the TARDIS."

"What?" Rory asked, shocked that he'd such a thing, especially with them in it.

"Notice how helpful the Dream lord was," the Doctor told them as he was about to start typing. "Okay there was misinformation, red herrings, malice, and I could have done without the limerick. But he was always very keen to make us choose between dream and reality." - the Doctor cranked something and then their was a bang.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked as the Doctor laughed and Alfie flicked another switch.

"Doctor, the Dream lord conceded," Rory reminded him. "This isn't the dream!"

"Yes it is!" the Doctor disagreed with a smirk on his face and Alfie stretched over the console and pushed a few buttons.

"Stop them." Amy ordered Rory, and he made a move to stop the mad pair.

"Star burning cold, do me a favour," the Doctor scoffed as he continued grinning. "The Dream lord has no power over the real world. He was offering us a choice between two dreams."

"How do you know that?" Amy asked.

"Because he knows who he is." Alfie answered for him as the Doctor grinned at her and hit a button. Everything disappeared into a white light as the TARDIS exploded.

* * *

><p>The Doctor and Alfie stood leaning against the TARDIS' console as they stared at six shiny little round flecks sitting in the Doctor's palm, Amy and Rory appeared at the top of the stairs and made their way down to the two.<p>

"Any questions?" Alfie asked as she looked away at the shiny flecks to the couple.

"What's that?" Amy asked as the Doctor shows them his hand.

"A speck of psychic pollen from the Candle meadows of Karass Don Slava," the Doctor informed them. "Must have been hanging around for ages. Fell into the Time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us."

Amy, Rory and Alfie watched as the Doctor opened the front door of the TARDIS and blew the specks off his hand and into space.

"So that was the Dream lord and that monster then?" Rory asked. "Those little specks."

"No," the Doctor said and gave Rory a look as if to say 'you haven't gotten it?'. "Sorry, wasn't it obvious? The Dream lord was me." the Doctor cleared things up for them.

"What about the monster then?" Rory asked, the Doctor had never mentioned it.

"That was me, sorry if it scared you." Alfie smiled as she leaned back against the console.

"Psychic pollen, it's a mind parasite, feeds on everything dark in you. Gives it a voice, turns it against you," the Doctor explained to them. "I'm nine hundred and seven, Alfie is three hundred and forty-nine. It had a lot to go on."

"Thank you, Doctor." Alfie said sarcastically to the Time lord for telling the two humans her age.

"But why didn't it feed on us too?" Amy asked.

"The darkness in you pair, it would have starved to death in an instant," the Doctor told them as he walked around the console. "I choose my friends with great care. Otherwise I'm stuck with my own company, and you know how that works out."

"Awe, I'm touched." Alfie smiled and wiped away an imaginary tear.

'_Even if it is a lie._' the Doctor heard Alfie say into his head and he raised a curious eyebrow at her.

"But those things he said about you, you don't think any of that's true?" Amy asked the Doctor as she leaned against the console between him and Alfie.

"Amy, right now a question is about to occur to Rory. And seeing as the answer is about to change his life, I think you should give him your full attention." the Doctor deflected the question as he pushed Amy towards Rory and pulled Alfie away to the other side of the console.

"Yeah, actually yeah." Rory realised.

"There it is." Alfie said before the Doctor pulled her away.

"'Cause what I don't get is, you blew up the TARDIS, that stopped that dream. But what stopped the Leadworth dream?" Rory asked

"We crashed the Camper van." Amy confessed.

"Oh right, I don't remember that bit." he said.

"No, you weren't there..." Amy tried to find the right word. "You were already..."

"Already what?"

"Dead," She got the word out. "You and Alfie died in that dream. Mrs Poggit got you."

"Okay, but how did you know it was the dream?" Rory asked, trying to work it out. "Before you crashed the van, how did you know you wouldn't just die?"

"Nosey bugger." Alfie whispered with a laugh as she grabbed the other end of the tube the Doctor was holding and pulled him away as he tried to watch them talk.

"I didn't." Amy said.

"Oh." Rory uttered.

"Yeah." she agreed.

"Oh." Rory realised as he stepped forward and took her hand.

"Yeah." She said again. Rory gave a little nervous laugh before kissing her, he pulled away to look at her and she kissed him back.

"So," the Doctor said as he started clapping his hands as the couple continued to kiss. "Well then, Where now?" - he waited for them to reply, but they didn't - "Or should me and Alfie pop down to the swimming pool for a few lengths?"

"Is that an offer?" Alfie asked as she walked around to his side and gave him a flirtatious smile, he returned it eagerly.

"Anywhere's good for me, I'm happy anywhere," Rory replied as he looked away from Amy to the Doctor. "It's up to Amy this time, Amy's choice."

The Doctor clapped his hands as he began pushing buttons and twisting levers, but Alfie noticed when the Doctor froze as he caught his reflection in a piece of glass on the console. She walked over and slid in front of him, blocking his view from the glass - and she smiled at him as he seemed to relax.

* * *

><p><strong>Finished! Amy's Choice is finished, and now onto the <strong>Hungry Earth**.**

**Review and tell me what you thought**


	11. Fetching Confusion

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German Shepherd, I own all the rights to her.

**Author's Note** Special thanks to Shifuni and Jo. Brooks for reviewing chapter 10 - I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter Eleven - Fetching Confusion**

If calculated carefully, it had been a day or two since the whole Dream lord and Psychic pollen incident. The four occupants of the TARDIS were recovering nicely, all going about doing their own thing. It was on the second day of their recuperating that Amy stumbled upon the library - stumbled meaning after she had gotten lost exploring the TARDIS had guided her to it, in which she found no swimming pool but instead Alfie sorting some books out.

"Can I ask you something?" Amy asked the white haired Shifter, disrupting the peaceful silence the Library had harboured.

"Sure, just give us a second," Alfie replied as she slipped the books she had in her hand onto the shelf in front of her, she skimmed over the spines for a moment before turning away and walking over to a smallish round mahogany table covered in more open books. There were four chairs tucked underneath it, Alfie stood behind the one that had her brown overcoat draped over the back of it, which left her wearing a deep blue button down shirt with the cuffs and collar unbuttoned (leaving her red collar exposed) and blue jeans, on her feet were plain purple Converse - but were accessorised with green laces instead of the usual white. "Right, go ahead."

"Does it hurt? When you Shape Shift I mean." Amy asked, it was an attempt at sparking up a conversation as she didn't want to risk wandering out of the library and getting lost again.

"No, it's completely painless. Although I was born a Shifter, turned Shifter's will feel pain at the start, but it'll fade eventually." Alfie answered the young ginger woman.

"Does that mean your parents were German Shepherd shifters?" Amy questioned, thinking maybe what you could Shape Shift into was inherited.

"They weren't actually. My Dad had been a Great Dane, my Mum had been a Border Collie. My brother was a Shepherd as well though," the Shifter rambled, but stopped as she thought about her brother, the reason they were the same animal was because they were twins - although he had black hair. "Anything else you want to ask?"

"Where do your clothes go when you shift?" Amy was baffled by that little detail, because when Alfie shifted into her dog form nothing was left behind - her clothes just seemed to vanish into thin air, then reappear when she shifted back.

"Hmm… I'm not really sure," Alfie laughed as she flipped a book shut and pushed it aside, replacing it with another open one - the pages were slightly yellowed and the words worn from time. "I've never really thought much about it."

"What are you doing anyway?" Amy asked curiously. The Doctor was poking about the TARDIS' console looking for something to try and fix while Rory kept trying to push buttons, only for the Doctor to slap his hand away.

"Research." Alfie replied as she flicked through a blue hard-back book full of photographs and sketches of Monsters & shadowy creatures. She glanced up from the page she'd been reading at the (much) younger woman after she didn't reply, she was holding a hard-back book in her hands called 'War of the Shifters', beneath the title were pictures of four animals; a St. Bernard dog, a Snow Leopard, a Vulture, and a Capybara. The author of the book was an 'A. S. Giles'.

"Did you write this?" Amy asked the Shifter as she flipped the book over and read the back of it.

'In the year 4191, the planet of the Shape-Shifters was plunged into a massacring war between the four most dominant kinds;  
>the Dogs, the Cats, the Birds, and the Rodents.<br>The War raged over a period of eleven years, during which hundreds of lives were lost.  
>The Rodents were scared into submission first, followed by the Birds, the Dogs and Cats formed a truce during the last year of the war,<br>and the fighting was stopped in 4202. This book tells the story of those eleven years of war through the eyes of a Shifter that had been there.'

"This library has all the books ever written and ever will be written," Alfie stopped beside Amy and pointed to the bottom of the book. "I wrote this in 1997 on Earth. It's about the war I was in when I was a lot younger than I am now."

"But it says in the year 4191, so how could you have written it in 1997?" Amy asked as she flipped the book around from hand to hand.

"When I left my home, it was the the year 4202, after which I travelled to Earth, but landed in the 51st century, I found a Vortex Manipulator and travelled through time and Space," Alfie explained as she went back to the table and flicked through the book with the monsters in it again. "I settled on Earth in the 1800's and wrote about my past. If you read it, it'll seem like a fantasy place full of war and destruction. If anyone on any other planet out in the universe read it, they'll be reading a history book. You humans almost never believe the impossible unless you're shown it."

"Sounds interesting." Amy commented as she set the book down onto the table on top of a pile of books, ignoring what Alfie had said about humans.

"If you're going to read it, keep a very open mind, I know how you humans think," Alfie replied as she skimmed her finger down the words on the page she'd stopped at, looking for something. She stopped and looked up at the ginger as she'd fallen silent again to see she was just looking about all the books; a million, million books inside a big blue box. "Bored?"

"Oh absolutely," Amy answered immediately with a smile. "Otherwise I wouldn't be in a library."

"You any good at throwing?" Alfie asked as she bent down behind the chair she was standing behind and stuck her hands in her pockets, routing about in search of something.

"Yeah," Amy responded carefully, not sure what the white haired Shifter was thinking as she pulled a light green Tennis ball out of her pocket and stood up. "Why?"

"Because this ball is magic," Alfie replied as she threw the ball up into the air a bit and caught it with ease as gravity took effect, she threw it over to Amy, who caught it in her two hands. "It cures boredom."

"We're going to play fetch," Amy clarified as she grinned widely, her aunt had never allowed her to get a dog when she was a little girl, said they were too much trouble. "How far can I throw it?"

"As far as you can." Alfie grinned as well as she opened the doors of the Library wide and walked back towards Amy - shifting into her white furred Shepherd form before reaching the ginger.

"Awe! You're just so cute!" Amy giggled as she stroked Alfie's head down to her collar and back up, she wasn't a human anymore apparently - now she was just an overgrown puppy. Nevertheless Alfie loved the attention, her tail wagging like mad. "You want the ball, huh? You want it? Go get it!"

Alfie watched the ball fly out of the Library for a few brief seconds before running after it, looking like nothing more than a white streak. Amy watched her disappear and waited for her to come back with the tennis ball, she couldn't see any sign of Alfie coming back, and felt a little bit smug that she was able to throw the tennis ball that far in the first place.

"Who're you looking for?" Alfie asked standing beside Amy in her human form with the ball in her hand looking in the direction the ginger was.

"Wow. You are fast," Amy frowned as she had thrown the ball with almost all of her strength, so she needed to try harder. "Let's throw it down the corridor, then at least it'll go a bit further."

"Okay." Alfie agreed grinning as she followed Amy to the open entrance of the Library, melting into her furry body as they stepped out into the corridor.

"Wait a few seconds, then run after it. Give me a little chance." Amy spoke as she decided to throw it down the left hallway. Alfie stood still beside Amy as the young Scottish woman pulled her arm backwards as far as it would go and threw the tennis ball with all her might, Alfie's eyes tracked the hopping green sphere as it bounced down the corridor like a locust on the loose, making banging sounds as it hit the walls, when it disappeared round the corner at the end Alfie took off after it - but not as fast as last time. Amy laughed as she heard Alfie's claws scrape against the floor when trying to turn the corner, disappearing from her view like the ball had, Alfie sped up and caught the ball mid-bounce in her mouth.

'Gotcha.' Alfie grinned, but her claws couldn't get any grip on the ground and so stopping was a little bit difficult. She swirled round and trotted back the way she'd ran, but Amy appeared from around the corner and grabbed the ball out from between her teeth.

"Fetch!" Amy laughed as she threw the tennis ball again, and Alfie flew after it, her heart hammering against her ribcage wildly as she ran.

Meanwhile at the heart of the TARDIS was the Doctor and Rory, the Doctor had taken his jacket off and set it across the jump seat that wasn't currently occupied, he rolled his sleeved up to his elbows and his Sonic Screwdriver hung out from the top of his trouser pocket as he circled around the console poking and prodding at things on the desk top. Rory sat quietly backwards in the jump seat, looking almost like he was lying down, he had no body warmer on and no hoodie, just a dark orange and red chequered shirt with a pair of blue jeans along with some black boots.

There was silence between the pair as the Doctor monitored the Console and Rory dozed in & out of a light sleep, although the quietness held within the control was disturbed by the sounds of banging and scraping.

"What's all that noise about?" Rory wondered aloud as sat upright on the jump seat, the scratching and banging appeared to be getting louder.

"Probably nothing," the Doctor told him, but he'd spoken too soon as a green tennis ball appeared and bounced down the stairs from the third level of the TARDIS. "That explains the banging," what emerged next from the top of the stairs was a large white furred dog, who ran down the stairs and across the glass platform after the ball. "And there's the scraping."

As Alfie lunged forward and snapped her teeth down into the ball, Amy walked out and stood at the top of the stairs laughing while Alfie's claws proved useless as brakes on the glass floor.

"Oh, you're playing fetch," the Doctor realised as he rested back against the console with his arms folded across his chest, he looked amused as a happy smiled spread across his face - similar in fashion of a Cheshire cat. "How fun."

The Doctor took the tennis ball off of Alfie when she offered it to him and threw it up to Amy, but Alfie watched her carefully, her muscles tensed in anticipation as she waited for the ball to be thrown. Amy threw the ball over their heads, just missing the casing protecting the Time rotor, but Alfie ran backwards keeping her eye on the ball, failing to notice that she was growing closer and closer to the stairs that lead to the lower level of the control room.

'I got it!' Alfie stood up on her hind legs as the ball began to be effected by the gravity in the TARDIS, and she caught it easily. However, the small force behind the tennis ball imbalanced her and her hind paw slid off of the edge of the stair. She yelped as she landed on her back and fell the rest of the way down to the lower level of the control room.

"Alfie?" The Doctor ran to the stairs, followed closely by Amy and Rory, but they were stopped at the top as Alfie started walking up the steps in her human form - she was rubbing the back of her head with one hand while her other hand held the tennis ball.

"I think we're done with fetch," Alfie laughed lightly as she pulled her hand away, her fingertips were covered in a thin layer of sticky blood, but she could feel the injury heal and soon there was nothing left but a bit of blood, which she wiped away with the back of her hand. Alfie walked the rest of the way up the stairs and the trio parted to let her pass, she walked over and leaned against the console as she threw the tennis ball at Amy. "There's a Tennis Court somewhere, you and Rory should have a game. If you get lost, just ask the TARDIS for help."

"Yeah, okay, that sounds fun," Amy agreed as she caught the tennis ball in her hands, she felt guilty as it had been her fault that Alfie had fallen. "Come on Rory." - he nodded his head and followed Amy as she walked up the stairs to the upper level and disappeared.

"Well, I think I'm going to go make a cup of tea." Alfie told the Doctor as she pointed over her shoulder.

"Rightio." the Doctor acknowledged as she walked away, he made to follow her, but stopped himself and scratched the back of his head in uncertainty - not sure whether to go after her or stay at the console as she disappeared from his view. After a moment he straightened his bow-tie and followed the white haired Shifter, he found her standing at the worktop with a black and white chequered mug, the kettle was just beginning to steam as he stepped slowly into the kitchen.

"Would you like a cup?" Alfie asked as she turned around and held up a blue mug for him to see.

"Yes, please." the Doctor replied as he watched her drop a tea bag into his mug and then her own, she slid past him to the fridge and lifted out a container of milk. He heard the kettle click, signalling that the water was boiled. Alfie poured the water into the mugs, stirred them, added the milk and then after another stir removed the tea bags and popped them into the bin.

"There you go," Alfie said as she handed the Doctor his cup of tea and took a small sip of her own, the stream rising from both cups. "I'd give you a jammy dodger, but you finished them yesterday."

"Just tea is fine." the Doctor assured as he stared at his watery reflection in his mug instead of looking at her, he wanted to talk to her about what happened in Leadworth, or the dream Leadworth anyway.

"So…" Alfie tried to think of something to say, she wanted to talk about the brief kiss she shared with the Doctor in Leadworth, but she didn't know that he wanted to as well. It was the image of her kissing the Doctor that reminded her of the time they had found Donna again and she freaked out about the Time lord wanting a mate, which the ginger haired woman had mistaken for something else. "Have you found your mate yet?"

"No." the Doctor responded and very slowly stepped closer and closer to the white haired Shifter.

"Are you still looking for one?" Alfie asked carefully, tracing the rim of her mug with the tip of her finger as she looked into the hot creamy beige coloured drink.

"Yes." The Doctor answered softly as he set his mug on the worktop and stood frozen in front of her, doing an impression of a Weeping Angel that had been spotted.

"Okay." Alfie accepted the short reply in a low voice, she took another sip of her tea before setting it beside the blue mug and mustering up enough courage to look up into the Doctor's eyes, which in the lighting of the kitchen appeared slightly green.

"Why?" the Doctor asked curiously, leaning down so that their noses were just barely touching, his cheeks where tinged a light shade of pink. "Are you offering?"

"Maybe…" Alfie whispered as she tilted her head up and pressed her lips softly against his.

The Doctor was very temporarily shocked, but after a mere second responded eagerly and pushed his own lips down against hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist and curled his fingers around the material of her shirt, Alfie closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the Doctor's neck, his skin felt cool against the exposed flesh of her wrists.

"Doctor." Alfie moaned as she pulled away, the Time lord whined in protest before leaving a trail of feather-light kisses down the side of her neck.

"I like it when you use my name." the Doctor exhaled, his warm breath rolling over her skin as he lifted her up and set her on the work top so that she was higher than him, but he never released his grip on her shirt.

"You chose it." Alfie answered in a sigh as she nibbled the top of his ear softly, emitting a groan from the Time lord before he left her neck alone and recaptured her lips with his.

"So did you." the Doctor reminded her, a low growl rumbling in his chest before he kissed her again.

Alfie wasn't in fact Alfie's name, because being born a Shifter - a creature connected to nature - her name had had to do with her home planet, Anthrakros. The Shifter's hadn't known Earth English, they used different sounds and body language instead, as they were a little more animal in behaviour than human. Her name sounded like a yip and whistle combined into the one sound, which translated carefully would mean something similar to Snowpelt. Of course, going to Earth and introducing herself as Snowpelt had only gotten her odd looks. So after spending a few weeks on Earth had decided to use the name Alfie, which she had used ever since. If in the company of other Shifters though, she would use her given name.

"But mine sounds normal." Alfie chuckled lightly as she pulled away from the Doctor, kissing the tip of his nose before sitting up straight on the countertop, her cheeks were tinged a rosy pink.

"But normal's no fun." the Doctor replied with a cheeky grin.

"So I've been told." Alfie laughed as she lifted her warm cup of tea from beside her and took a sip, it was still quite warm.

The Doctor lifted his tea up and sipped it carefully, now they were sitting in a bit of an awkward silence. Neither one would have been able to predict the quite flustering make-out session, all they had wanted to do was talk about Leadworth. The Time lord and Shape-Shifter were speechless, they had wanted to talk and ended up snogging - not that they had found it an unpleasant surprise.

"Where does this leave us standing?" Alfie asked as she slid down off of the worktop and onto her feet, she looked up into the Doctor's greenish-blue eyes, not that she hadn't enjoyed the kiss.

"In the kitchen?" the Doctor asked, smiling sheepishly now. He was a little nervous, the last person he had had feelings for had been… Rose. And look at where she ended up, stuck in a parallel universe with a duplicate of his 10th regeneration. Although he doubted that would ever happen again.

"Doctor, be serious, just for a few minutes even. We can't pussyfoot around this." Alfie knew the Time lord had been thinking of the blonde companion he had travelled with before her, she had seen it in his eyes. When they had first travelled alone, she'd admit that she had developed a bit of a crush on the Doctor, but she very much doubted any of his other companions hadn't. He was just that kind of guy you could easily love, and he could be oblivious and make it look cute - although that caused a bit of a problem sometimes.

"I know, I really do, and I don't want to avoid it," the Doctor tried to assure the white-haired young woman in front of him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly to him, after a moment he felt her arms surround his neck as she hugged him back. "I don't want you to leave again."

"I'm not going to leave again," Alfie promised the Time lord as honestly as she could, the TARDIS may know the future to come and the long-gone past, but Alfie didn't know what lay in her path ahead. "You have no worries there. I have everything I could ever want here."

The Doctor held Alfie in his arms tensely, subconsciously fearing that if he moved she would disappear - he almost felt as if he were in a dream he wished he'd have more often, and that if he let go of the white haired Shifter in front of him, he'd wake up and be all alone again.

"Doctor," Alfie called, ripping the Time lord away from his thoughts as she wiggled a little in his arms, but didn't seem to be trying to get away. "I love hugs, really I do, but we can't stand in the kitchen hugging all day."

"Who says we can't?" the Doctor asked, burying his nose into the soft white hair behind her ear - she didn't smell strongly of mint anymore, but there was still a trace of it. Her scent, like many others shifters, was of earth and pine - but she had a twist of fresh sawdust to hers.

"I say we can't, there are plenty of other things we could be doing." Alfie told the Doctor, looking over at the plates sitting in the sink, and remembering that they needed to buy more groceries as they were running low on fresh food.

"I bet we could." the Doctor agreed as he gave her a flirty grin and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, waiting for her to pick up on what he was getting at.

"Naughty Doctor, I would never think of such things." Alfie howled with laughter as she unwrapped her arms from around his neck and ducked out of the Doctor's hold, making her way out of the kitchen. That was a lie of course, as the first few weeks they'd known each other she had day-dreamed about her and the Doctor in… numerous little situations, probably like every other female (and sometimes male) companion the Doctor had travelled with.

"I'm sure you wouldn't." the Doctor purred as he followed after her with a calculating grin.

* * *

><p><strong>I needed to write a chapter of the aftermath of the Dream lord, and I know Amy &amp; Rory aren't in this chapter much - but I wanted to focus on the Doctor and Alfie working things out. And a little bit of Alfie's history.<strong>

**The next few chapters will definitely be **The Hungry Earth **and **Cold Blood

**I love to read reviews by the way, I enjoy knowing what you guys think of Alfie and the story!**


	12. The hungry Earth: Definitely not it Rio

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German Shepherd, I own all the rights to her

**Author's Note **Special thank to Jo. Brooks, Shifuni, JForward and FifteenFathomsCounting for reviewing chapter 11.

JForward - I loved your review, it made me smile when I read it. Thanks for showing me where I'd misspelt the word shut - and no, I'm not dyslexic. Which is a bit of a personal question, but I respect you for asking it.

* * *

><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter Twelve - The Hungry Earth: Definitely not in Rio**

"Behold…" the Doctor said as he got his three companions excited before flinging open the doors to the TARDIS. "Rio!"

And Rio it wasn't. They had landed in a cemetery, and weather-worn tombstones weren't the most exciting things to look at.

"Nu-uh." Amy disagreed as she and Rory stepped out of the TARDIS, she was wearing a pair of short shorts over a pair of tights, a dark pink top and a thin brown jacket.

"Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe." Rory commented as he continued to stare out over the graves, he was in his trusty body-warmer with a white chequered shirt and dark grey trousers.

"You're an eejit." Alfie sighed as she went to grab her brown overcoat, she'd been in a simple white short sleeved t-shirt with the Torchwood symbol over the abdominal area and a loose pair of blue jeans, under which she was wearing a pair of shorts - she'd put them under her jeans in case they hadn't actually landed in Rio, which she was right to assume the Doctor wouldn't get them - and of course her red collar was around her neck. She slipped on the overcoat and stepped out of the TARDIS.

"No. Ooh," the Doctor said as he walked forward. "What's that though? What's that?" - he stopped and did a few bunny hops - "Ground feels strange."

"Strange?" Alfie questioned as she looked at the ground beneath her feet before doing a few hops as well, but couldn't sense what the Doctor obviously could.

"Just me." the Doctor concluded as he looked at his companions before stopping his hopping.

"Just you." Alfie agreed.

"Wait… that's weird." the Doctor stated as he looked around him.

"What's weird?" Rory asked.

"Doctor stop trying to distract us, we're in the wrong place." Amy said as she walked towards the Doctor.

But the Doctor had other plans and ran around the church the TARDIS had parked beside, Alfie shrugged her shoulders at the humans and followed him.

"Doctor, it's freezing and I've dressed for Rio," Amy complained as she followed the two Aliens. "We are not stopping here," - the Doctor was crouched down beside one of the odd coloured patches of grass and plucked a few pieces - "Doctor, are you listening to me? It's a graveyard, you promised me a beach."

"Blue grass." the Doctor said as he inspected it.

"I spent months running over blue grass, it smelled like honey," Alfie said aloud as she relived the memory in her head. "But Earth won't have blue grass for another dozen centuries or so."

"Patches of it all around the graveyard." the Doctor spoke as Amy and Rory caught up, he placed the grass into his inside pocket. "So, Earth, 2020ish, ten years in your future. Wrong continent for Rio, but it's not a massive overshoot."

"We could have landed in China." Alfie agreed.

"What's wrong with China?" the Doctor asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"They tried to eat me." Alfie said as she folded her arms across her chest as the Doctor made an understanding expression.

"Why are those people waving at us?" Amy asked as she looked all the way across the fields where two people stood.

"Can't be." the Doctor muttered as he got his binoculars out, Alfie focused her sight on the pair, and having the eyes of a hunter had no need for things like the Doctor was using. Rory waved to them but Amy grabbed him hand. "It is," - the Doctor looked through his binoculars again - "It's you two."

"No, we're here, how can we be up there?" Rory asked, clearly confused.

"Ten years in your future, come to relive past glories I'd imagine," the Doctor smiled as he put away his binoculars. "Humans, you're so nostalgic."

"We're still together in ten years." Amy was gobsmacked as she looked at Rory, and Alfie tried hard not to laugh.

"Don't need to sound so surprised." Rory replied in a sing-along voice.

"Hey let's go and talk to them, we could say hi to future us. How cool is that?" Amy asked excitedly as she grabbed her fiancé and pulled him after her. But Alfie grabbed Rory's body-warmer, stopping the pair.

"Ah, no, best not, really best not. These things get complicated very quickly and, oh look," the Doctor changed the subject as he spotted something that caught his interest. "Big mining thing. Oh I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio. Rio doesn't have a big mining thing."

"We're not going to have a look, are we?" Amy groaned.

"Probably." Alfie gave her the answer she hadn't wanted.

"Let's go and have a look," the Doctor grinned at Amy before grabbing Alfie's hand and running down the hill. "Come on you two, let's see what they're doing."

"If he can't get us to Rio, how is he ever going to get us back home?" Rory asked as he watched the Doctor and Alfie run ahead, but Alfie stopped and so did the Doctor. She searched through her pockets, but didn't seem to find what she was looking for, so she waved the Doctor on and continued to search.

"Did you not see over there? It all works out fine." Amy assured him.

"After everything we've seen, we just drop back into our own lives?" Rory questioned her. "The Nurse and the Kiss-o-gram."

"I guess," Amy said sadly before looking up at him with a smile. "They're getting away."

"Hang on," Rory said as he caught her hand and pulled her back to him, he held her hand up so he could see the ring. "What are you doing with that?"

"Engagement ring. I thought you liked me wearing it." Amy smiled as she looked up from the ring at him.

"Amy, you could lose it," Rory protested, not letting go of her hand. "Cost… a lot of money."

"Spoil sport." Amy teased as she took the ring off and put it into Rory's hand.

"Go on, I'll catch up." Rory said as Amy after the Doctor.

"Tell him no funny business," Alfie called the Amy. "I have to go back to the TARDIS."

"Okay." Amy shouted back as she went after the Time lord.

"Rory! Wait up!" Alfie called as she jogged after the human. The Doctor had taken her Vortex Manipulator out of her pocket, and she planned on getting it back.

Rory waited for the Shifter and they both walked into the TARDIS, Alfie started poking around the Console in search of her lost gadget as Rory lifted a red box and placed the ring into it. He looked at it lovingly with a smile.

'Where has he put it?' Alfie asked the TARDIS.

'The Doctor has it with him.' the Type 40 replied.

"Are you serious?" Alfie whined suddenly, startling Rory before he gave her an odd look. "Sorry, I was talking to the TARDIS. The Doctor took my Vortex Manipulator, I was just looking for it."

Rory nodded as Alfie walked past them and they both stepped out of the TARDIS, making sure to close the door behind them. Alfie stopped as she spotted a woman standing in front of them, she was shorter than the two and wearing a light purplish pink coat.

"Well that was quick." She spoke with a smile.

"Was it?" Alfie asked with a polite smile back, first impressions and all that.

"It's great that yous came." the woman said as a young boy with a yellow & black striped shirt looked at the TARDIS, or the outside of the blue box anyway.

"Bit retro," the boy commented as he studied the TARDIS. "What is it? Portable crime lab?"

"Oh, eh," Rory struggled with an answer, he wasn't that good at thinking on the spot it seemed. "Sort of."

"Ambrose Northover, I was the one who called," She introduced herself before shaking both Rory and Alfie's hands. "I run the meals on wheels for the whole valley. This is my son, Elliot."

"Detective Inspector Giles," Alfie said as she stuck her hand into the right pocket of her overcoat and was able to find her police badge, she showed it to Ambrose - she had no need for the Psychic paper as it wasn't a lie, she had been part of the Police, and still technically was. "This is my Partner-in-training, Detective Constable Williams."

"Where's your uniform?" Elliot asked the two.

"Don't be cheeky Elliot, they're plain clothes," Ambrose scolded her son. "CID is it? Anyway, it's over here."

Rory stood gobsmacked about what had just happened as Ambrose and Elliot walked away, he looked beside him at Alfie who stared back at him.

"We better follow them." was all she said as she went to catch up with the mother and son, Rory followed after her quickly.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

The Doctor and Amy had reached the 'Big mining thing' as the Doctor had described it, but there was a tall metal gate in their way.

"Restricted access. No unauthorised personnel. Hm." the Doctor smiled as he slipped his Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed it at the lock, which spat out sparks as it unlocked.

"That is breaking and entering!" Amy accused the Doctor.

"What did I break? Sonicing and entering, totally different." the Doctor disagreed as he put the Sonic Screwdriver away and took the lock off of the gate before pushing it open.

"Come on then." Amy called after walking through the opened gateway and into the Drilling area.

"You're sure Alfie and Rory'll catch us up?" the Doctor asked back.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"It's a family plot, see," Ambrose shared with Alfie and Rory as the four stood around an empty grave, Rory stood at the edge looking down and Alfie stood beside Ambrose at the side as she too stared down into the vacant burial place. "My aunt Gladys died six years ago. Her husband, Alan, died a few weeks back. He lived in the house two doors down. There's not many of us left up here now."

"What are we here to help you with then?" Alfie asked curiously as she stared down into the hole in the ground, the last time she checked dieing wasn't a crime.

"You don't know?" Ambrose asked with a confused look.

"We weren't told," Alfie said as she realised what her mistake had been. "They told me and DC Williams to get here as fast as we could."

"Mum, they don't care about that," Elliot informed his mother as he stood beside Rory. "They want to know about the dead bodies."

"Yes, sorry," Ambrose apologised to the pair. "Well, they always wanted to be buried in the same plot, together. But when we went to bury uncle Alan, Gladys wasn't there, gone. Body, coffin, everything."

"What?" Rory was obviously confused as a body and a box couldn't just disappear into thin air.

"So you suspect grave robbery then?" Alfie asked as she studied the wet mucky walls of the rectangular hole, the only way seemed to be up.

"The mad thing is on the surface the grave was untouched," Ambrose said as she looked from Rory to Alfie. "No signs of it having been messed with."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand." Rory apologised as Ambrose told them why she'd phoned the police.

"Forgive him, he's still getting used to the detective business." Alfie spoke to her as she gave Rory a look, which was a silent 'I'll explain to you when they've left' look.

"Nobody has touched the grave since my aunt was buried," Ambrose tried to explicate to Alfie and Rory. "But when they dug it open, the body was gone. How is that possible?"

"It isn't." Alfie mumbled, more to herself than as an actual answer as she and Rory peered down into the uninhabited grave.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"What about now, can you feel it now?" the Doctor asked Amy as they walked down a dimly lit hall.

"Honestly I've got no idea what you're on about." Amy confessed without skipping a beat, she stopped however when the Doctor stopped.

"The ground doesn't feel like it should." the Doctor told his companion as they continued walking, he smelled the grass as they walked.

"It's ten years in the future, maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels." Amy suggested.

"Good thought, but no is doesn't," the Doctor disagreed as he put the grass back into his pocket and swapped it for the Sonic. "Hear that? Drill in starter mode. After waves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass." - he took said grass out of his inside pocket and put it into his mouth, he bit into it before sticking his tongue out and getting rid of it, he wrinkled his nose at the unpleasant taste.

"Oh please," Amy said as she watched the Time lord drop the grass onto the floor. "Have you always been this disgusting."

"No," the Doctor said after a moment. "That's recent."

The Doctor could practically hear Alfie saying 'liar' to him, and then felt a little bad for taking her Vortex Manipulator as that was why she wasn't here at the moment.

"What's in… here?" the Doctor wondered as he ducked his head through an open red door and into a large room where an Indian woman had been studying something. "Hello."

"Who are you?" She demanded as she had never seen the Doctor and Amy before, and knew they didn't work on the site. "What are you doing here?" - it was then that she realised Amy's current attire - "And what are you wearing?"

"I dressed for Rio." Amy confessed as she and the Doctor began walking towards her.

"Ministry of Drills, earth and Science," the Doctor said as he briefly flashed her the Psychic paper. "New ministry, quite big, just merged, a lot of responsibility on our shoulders, don't like to talk about it. What are you doing?"

"None of your business." She replied as she walked away and the Doctor stood in her place looking at the screen.

"Where are you getting those readings from?" the Doctor questioned.

"Under the soil." She replied as she lifted away the equipment she had been using to take the readings from a hole in the middle of the floor.

"The drill's up and running again," a man with white hair wearing a red coat announced as he entered the room and spotted the Doctor and Amy. "What's going on? Who are these people?"

"Amy, the Doctor," the Ginger haired Scottish woman replied as she gestured to herself and then the Doctor. "We're not staying, are we Doctor?"

"Why is there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?" the Doctor asked, he had knelt down beside it and lifted a handful before letting it fall.

"We don't know, it just appeared overnight." the Indian woman answered.

"Good, right, you all need to get out of here very fast." the Doctor informed them as he went from the hole over to the equipment and pressed a few buttons.

"Why?" the Indian woman queried.

"What's your name?" the Doctor asked instead of answering her question.

"Nasreen Chaudhry." She replied.

"Look at the screens, Nasreen," the Doctor point to them. "Look at your readings, it's moving."

"Hey, that's specialised equipment, get away from it." the red coat wearing man demanded as he walked over to the Doctor, Amy kneeled down beside the hole.

"What is?" Nasreen asked the Doctor.

"Doctor, this steam, is that a good thing?" Amy asked as she looked away from the hole towards said Time lord.

"Shouldn't think so," the Doctor said as he stared at the white mist before moving towards the hole. "It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting."

"What shouldn't?" Nasreen enquired, unable to stand not knowing what he was on about.

"The ground, the soil, the earth, moving," the Doctor replied as the floor beneath their feet began to shake, the whole building began to shake in fact. "But how? Why?"

"Earthquake?" Amy suggested as she tried to stay on her feet.

"What's going on?" the unnamed man questioned.

"Doubt it," the Doctor answered Amy. "Cause it's only happening under this roof."

The Doctor jumped back as another hole opened up beneath his feet, so did Nasreen and Amy and the unnamed man as identical holes had collapsed underneath where they'd been standing.

"It knows we're here, it's attacking us," the Doctor shared with the other three as he looked at them. "The ground is attacking us."

"That's not possible." Nasreen disagreed.

"Under the circumstances, I suggest, run!" the Doctor shouted as he reached out and grabbed Nasreen's hand, pulling her along with him. Amy and the unknown white haired man followed as they dodged the appearing craters, but the man wasn't fast enough and fell through one, Amy haltered.

"Tony!" Nasreen shouted to the man.

"Stay back, Amy, stay away from the Earth!" the Doctor warned as she made a move to help him.

Amy looked at the Doctor before over to Tony, and decided to risk helping him as she jumped over the hole that separated them.

"It's okay." Amy assured the man before another hole opened up beneath her feet and dragged her down, she was trapped and unable to get out.

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted as he ran to the ginger.

"It's pulling me down!" Amy shouted as she began to panic. "Doctor help me! Something's got me!"

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks a lot to all people who have read and enjoyed this story so far, without you guys this story wouldn't have made it this far.<strong>

**Reviews are fantastic to read, so go ahead and write one!**

**By the way, I put a quote in Chapter 11 from a previous Doctor Who episode - whoever get's which episode and who said it correctly first will get mentioned somewhere in chapter 13!**


	13. The Hungry Earth: The Empty Grave

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German Shepherd, I own all the rights to her

**Author's Note **Special thank to Shifuni and JForward for replying to chapter 12, thanks guys!

* * *

><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter Thirteen - The Hungry Earth: The Empty Grave**

"Take my hand!" the Doctor shouted as he dropped to his stomach and held his hand out for Amy to take.

"Doctor the ground's got my legs!" Amy panicked as she gripped the Doctor's hand tightly.

"I've got you!" the Doctor promised as Amy had sank into the ground up to her midsection, he gripped her hand and elbow to try and keep her up.

"Okay!" Amy said as she tried to breathe through all the dust rising from the shifting dirt.

Nasreen bravely stepped towards Tony and grabbed his arm, pulling him off of his knees and with her over to safety.

"Don't let go." Amy said to the Doctor has she sank further down.

"Never." the Doctor replied without even having to think.

"Doctor what is it? Why is it doing this?" Amy asked as she held as tightly as she could to his hand.

"Stay calm. Keep hold of my hand, don't let go." the Doctor ordered her gently, he was on his knees trying to hold her up from sinking any further down as he looked over his shoulder at Nasreen and Tony. "Your drill, shut it down. Go! Now!" - the two didn't need to be told twice as they ran out of the room.

"Can you get me out?" Amy asked the Doctor hopefully as she looked up into his eyes.

"Amy, try and stay calm. If you struggle it'll make things worse. Keep hold of my hand." the Doctor repeated, wondering where the hell Alfie and Rory had gotten to.

Nasreen and Tony set straight to work shutting down the drill, completely stopping the drilling process and bringing it to a grinding halt.

"I'm not going to let you go." the Doctor assured Amy through gritted teeth as he stood slightly to see if it would give him the advantage. The Doctor felt his hearts stop as his hand slipped out of Amy's and he fell backwards, he quickly twisted around and grabbed her hand again.

"Doctor, it's pulling me down! Something's pulling me!" Amy panicked as she sank down even further into the earth.

"Stay calm," the Doctor commanded, but he knew she was absolutely terrified and calm wasn't the first thing on her mind. "Just hold on. If they can just shut down the drill."

"I can't hold on!" Amy cried, she felt like she was in a game of tug-a-war, and she was the rope.

Tony and Nasreen were trying as hard as they could to shut down the drill, but they weren't doing it fast enough. Slowly the drill the powering down and coming to a standstill.

"What's pulling me? What's under there? I don't want to suffocate under there." Amy told the Doctor, the earth was up to her shoulders now.

"Amy, concentrate! Don't you give up!" the Doctor warned, he couldn't lose another companion - it was killing him inside as she disappeared.

"Tell Rory…" Amy had began as she felt herself being pulled down again, she never got to finish what she had wanted to say as her head disappeared, leaving only her hands to sink down.

"Amy! Amy no! No! No! No!" the Doctor shouted angrily as he tried to grasp her fingers before they were eaten by the ground, he tried desperately to dig the earth away, but whatever he dug was filled with more. "No! No!," - the Doctor hit the ground with his fists like a child throwing a tantrum as he stood up and pointed the Sonic Screwdriver at the patch of earth in the middle of the floor, he watched hopelessly at the hole as his beloved sonic device couldn't do anything to bring the fiery Scottish girl back.

"Where is she?" Nasreen asked as she and Tony stopped beside the hole, the both of them were out of breath.

"She's gone," the Doctor told them bluntly. "The ground took her."

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

Alfie and Rory had tossed a coin to decide who went down into the wet grave to investigate, that is until Alfie told Rory she didn't want to get her Converse ruined - and she was the higher ranking officer out of the 'two' of them and he had to do as she said, she did ask nicely though, and he was a gentlemen. Which is how Rory ended up down in the hole while Alfie stood above ground looking down at him, he did a little hop (not knowing what he was supposed to do really) before he patted the damp earthy wall of the grave.

"Sugar?" Elliot asked Rory as he appeared beside Alfie looking down at him.

"Sorry?" Rory asked with a confused look on his face, he had no idea what the kid was on about and the question was unexpected as he and Alfie had been in silence for the past few minutes.

"In your tea," Elliot reminded him, making a gesture with his head over his shoulder. "Mum's asking."

"No, just white, thanks." Rory replied as he stared up at the two.

"And you?" Elliot asked as he turned his head and looked up at Alfie.

"A bit of sugar would be nice, and I like mine white as well." Alfie told the young boy as she smiled down at him, she was beginning to take a shine to the boy.

"There's only one explanation, as far as I can see." Elliot said to the two as he walled along the wooden boards on the edge of the side of the hole.

"What's that then?" Rory asked as he followed the boy's movement.

"Do tell." Alfie smiled as she pulled a small black booklet about the size of her hand out of her pocket along with a pen, showing him that she was going to write down what he was going to suggest.

"The graves eat people, devour them whole, leaving no trace." Elliot informed them as he stopped at the end of the grave.

"Interesting theory." Alfie complemented the young boy's way of thinking as she studied the inside of the grave after she had jotted the idea into the black booklet and placed it back into her pocket, it was a thought worth keeping for later that's for sure, it might come in handy after all.

"Not sure about that." Rory disagreed with her as he looked all around the ground beneath his feet, and the puddle he just so happened to be standing in.

"They didn't steal the body from above, they couldn't have gotten it from the sides," Elliot spoke as he walked back towards Alfie. "The only other thing is, they get in from underneath."

"Not very likely though." Rory denied, he couldn't see the possibility of someone stealing a dead body from beneath it's grave.

"'When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'." Elliot told them as he walked down to the bottom of the grave again.

"Sorry?" Rory asked, surely this boy couldn't have come up with that himself.

"It's Sherlock Holmes, Williams." Alfie informed the man who was teetering about the cavity in the ground.

"I've got the audio book," Elliot smiled widely towards Alfie as she'd just named one of his favourite book characters, he was happy that she'd known what he'd been talking about. His hands were in his pockets as a sombre-look overtook his facial expression. "The graves around yous eat people."

Rory shivered after Elliot had walked away, and he looked up at Alfie expectantly, "Can I get out of here now?"

"Sure." Alfie smiled and laughed a little as she agreed to his request.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"Is that what happened to Mo?" Tony asked as the Doctor paced up and down parallel to the first two holes that had appeared. "Are they dead?"

"It's not quicksand, she didn't just sink. Something pulled her in - it wanted her." the Doctor shared with the two humans.

"The ground wanted her?" Nasreen asked sceptically.

"You said the ground was dormant, just a patch of earth when you first saw it this morning, and the drill had been stopped…" the Doctor remembered as he strolled across parallel to the holes in the ground, working the situation out.

"That's right." Tony confirmed.

"But when you restarted the drill the ground fought back." the Doctor remembered the reaction.

"So what? The ground wants to stop us drilling?" Nasreen asked rhetorically, clearly not believing any of it. "Doctor that is ridiculous."

The Doctor crouched beside the hole and pointed the Sonic screwdriver at it, the earth began to vibrate, "I'm not saying that, and it's not ridiculous, I just don't think it's right," he looked at the readings on the Sonic screwdriver before it finally occurred to him what they were dealing with. "Oh, of course. It's bio-programming."

"What?" Nasreen asked in confusion.

"Bio-programming," the Doctor repeated enthusiastically as he jumped up and smacked his hands together. "Oh! That's clever. You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects. It's mainly used in engineering, and construction, mostly jungle planets - but that's way in the future, not here. What's it doing here?"

"Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?" Nasreen asked, making sure she heard correctly.

"You're not making any sense, man." Tony said straight afterwards.

"Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense, you're just not keeping up," the Doctor corrected him, and for the second time in the past dozen minutes wished Alfie was with him - at least she could keep up. "The earth, the ground beneath our feet was bio-programmed to attack."

"Yeah, even if that were possible, which by the way it's not, why?" Nasreen questioned the Doctor, believing that he was just in fact mad.

"To stop you drilling. Okay, so we find whatever's doing the bio-programming, we can find Amy, we can get her back. Sh, sh, sh!" the Doctor hissed suddenly. "Have I gone mad? I've gone mad."

"Doctor-" Nasreen had started.

"Sh, sh, silence. Absolute silence," the Doctor cut her off before she could interrupt, he took an almost hesitant step towards her. "You stopped the drill, right?"

"Yes." Nasreen confirmed.

"And you've only got the one drill?" the Doctor asked nervously.

"Yes." Nasreen replied in a patronising way.

"You're sure about that?" the Doctor queried.

"Yes." Tony verified this time.

The Doctor stepped over to the other side of the hole and lay flat on his stomach with his ear pressed into the cement floor, "So, if you shut the drill down. Why can I still here drilling? It's under the ground."

"That's not impossible." Tony contradicted, he and Nasreen had crouched slightly to try and hear the drilling.

The Doctor jumped to his feet and went over to the equipment Nasreen had been studying, she freaked out and wasn't pleased when the Doctor scanned them with the Sonic screwdriver.

"What-what're you doing!" Nasreen demanded, she didn't want this man she barely knew messing with her equipment.

"Hacking into your records. Reports, samples, good. Just unite the data, make it all one big conversation. Let's have a look. So, we're here and this is your drill hole," the Doctor pointed at the screen as the diagram came up and a bar began stretching downwards. "21.009 kilometres. Well done."

"Thank you, it's taken us a long time." Nasreen replied.

"Why here though? Why'd you drill on this site?" the Doctor questioned, of all the places to start drilling into the Earth's crust, why there?

"We found patches of grass in this area containing trace minerals unseen in this country for 20 million years." Nasreen informed the Time lord.

"The blue grass? Oh Nasreen," the Doctor smiled as if he had heard a joke. "Those trace minerals weren't x-marking the spot saying dig here, they were a warning; stay away. Because while you've been drilling down… somebody else has been drilling up," - the three leaned in towards the screen as channels appeared running upwards on the screen - "Beautiful. Network of tunnels all the way down."

"No, no, we've surveyed that area." Tony denied, even though the proof was in front of him.

"You only saw what you went looking for." the Doctor corrected him.

"What are they?" Nasreen asked, pointing to three blinking dots that were slowly travelling up one of the channels.

"Heat signals. Wait… dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't sense. And now they're moving, fast. How many people live by?" the Doctor asked.

"Just my daughter and her family, the rest of the staff travel in." Tony shared with the Doctor.

"Grab this equipment and follow me." the Doctor instructed as he began walking towards the door.

"Why? What are we doing?" Nasreen questioned the Time lord, causing him to turn back to them.

"That noise isn't a drill, it's transport, three of them - thirty kilometres down. Rate of speed looks about 150 kilometres an hour, should be here in, oh, quite soon," the Doctor shut the lid of one of the computers before using his fingers to quickly calculate the amount of time they had. "Twelve minutes. Whatever bio-programmed the earth is on it's way up. Now!"

As the Doctor walked away, Nasreen and Tony looked at each other before grabbing all the gear they could carry and quickly following him. They made their way up to the upper level of the drilling site and began walking towards the nearest houses.

"How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?" Tony questioned as they tried to run with the equipment, which turned into an awkward looking jog.

"You saw the readings!" the Doctor replied.

"Who are you anyway? How could you know all this?" Nasreen asked as she pushed the wheelbarrow she'd placed some of the equipment in, she stopped in her tracks as a red bolt crossed the sky. "Wow. Did you see that?"

"No, no, no!" the Doctor set the computer he'd been carrying as he lifted a sling-shot out of his pocket and picked up a stone, he shot the piece of stone up into the sky, where it hit an invisible force field causing it to explode into fantastic red bolts across the sky, the Doctor put away the sling-shot and pointed the Sonic screwdriver up into the air - a dome-like shape appeared as the red bolts sparked everywhere. "Energy signal originating from under the earth, we're trapped."

"Doctor, we might have a problem." Alfie informed the Time lord as she and Rory, followed by Ambrose and Elliot, approached the three.

"Something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people." Rory explained as they got closer.

"Not now you two," the Doctor replied as he continued pointing the Sonic up into the sky. "Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in."

"What?" Rory asked, completely baffled.

"Okay… what about the TARDIS?" Alfie paused as she reached the Time lord, her and Rory had been wondering about missing bodies - and now they were caught in a force field?

"The what?" Nasreen asked as she stared at Alfie, but she then wondered what a young looking woman was doing with hair the colour of snow.

"Uh, no. Those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits, with a bit of time maybe," the Doctor checked the watch strapped the wrong way to his wrist. "But we've only got nine and a half minutes."

"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Rory asked as he glanced down at his own watch.

"We're trapped and something's burrowing towards the surface." Nasreen shared with the rest of the group.

"Oh that's just fantastic," Alfie mumbled as she stepped in front of the Doctor and stared into his eyes questioningly. "What've you done now."

"I didn't do anything, I swear." the Doctor replied as honestly as he could, and Alfie believed him after a few seconds, but she knew he was hiding something - or at least hadn't said anything about it.

"Where's Amy?" Rory asked after not being able to spot his fiancée, Alfie looked from Rory to the Doctor, now realising what she'd missed.

"Get everyone inside the church," the Doctor avoided the question as he grabbed the computer and followed everyone who'd moved towards the church, everyone except Rory and Alfie - who stood side-by-side now. "Rory, I'll get her back."

"What do you mean get her back? Where's she gone?" Rory asked as he followed the Doctor who'd walked past him, Alfie was walking by the Time lord's side watching him.

"She was taken." the Doctor told him honestly as he stopped to face the man.

"Taken where?" Alfie asked as she skidded to a halt, tiny stones scattered forward as she turned back.

"Into the earth." the Doctor answered the both of them, and grimaced slightly at the disappointing look he could see in Alfie's eyes.

"How?" Rory asked, he had put his faith in the time traveller to keep his wife-to-be safe, and she was nowhere to be seen. "Why didn't you stop it?"

"I tried, I promise I tried." the Doctor told him as he set the computer down again.

"Well you should have tried harder!" Rory shouted angrily.

"I'll find Amy, I'll keep you all safe, I promise," the Doctor looked from Rory to Alfie, then back to Rory who didn't look convinced. "Come on, please? I need yous alongside me."

The Doctor walked away, following the others before Rory could shout at him again. Alfie could feel the anger rolling off of Rory in tidal waves of emotion, she grabbed his hand and gave it a friendly reassuring squeeze.

"We'll get her back Rory, there's no doubt about it." Alfie confirmed as she pulled Rory along with her as she went to the entrance to the church, following the Doctor.

"Where's Mo?" Ambrose asked as they reached the entrance of the church. "Is he with you?"

"Flaming door, always sticking, I thought we were having it fixed!" Tony said, avoiding the question as he tried to open the door.

"Dad!" Ambrose demanded.

"Something's happened to him, hasn't it?" Elliot demanded as he stared at his grandfather.

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><p><strong>There we go, second part of <strong>The Hungry Earth, **and Amy's been taken! Two more parts left (if all goes to plan) before I start writing **Cold Blood**!**

**You know the drill (lol) Reviews are absolutely fantastic and I love reading them, so don't forget to write one!**


	14. The Hungry Earth: Lesser than Human

**Disclaimer** I don't own Doctor Who, the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory or the TARDIS. I don't even own the Vortex Manipulator. I do however own my OC, Alfie who can shape-shift into a White furred German Shepherd, I own all the rights to her

**Author's Note **Super shout-outs to those who reviewed chapter 13; the fabulous **JForward** and faithful **Shifuni **

* * *

><p><strong>Doctor Who<strong>

**Chapter 14: The Hungry Earth - Lesser than Human, and Greater**

Tony eventually managed to get the door open, with a little help from Alfie and Rory, and very soon after they were inside the church, the Doctor was setting up the equipment - with some help from a white haired Shifter.

"So, we can't get out, we can't contact anyone, and something - the something that took my husband - is coming up through the earth." Ambrose stated disbelievingly, making sure she'd got the story straight.

"In a nutshell, yes." Alfie answered as she stared at the screen of the computer the Doctor had turned on to see the channels branching out beneath them like roots.

"If we move quickly enough, we can be ready." the Doctor informed Ambrose as he walked towards her.

"No, stop, this has gone far enough," Ambrose warned the Doctor. "I mean, what is this?"

"He's telling the truth, love." Tony stood up for the Doctor.

"Come on, it's not the first time we've had no mobile signals, reception's always rubbish." Ambrose denied.

"You should visit Cinoskorb…" Alfie mumbled as she studied the readings and saw the drill mark, she looked over to Tony and Nasreen and clapped her hands softly - impressed at the depth of the hole. "Well done."

"Look, Ambrose, we saw the Doctor's friend get taken, okay? You saw the lightening in the sky," Nasreen reminded her. "I have seen the impossible today, and the only person whose made any sense of it for me, is the Doctor."

"Him?" Ambrose questioned unhappily, gesturing towards the floppy haired Time lord.

"Me." the Doctor confirmed cheerfully, popping up from where he'd been working at Alfie's feet before disappearing again.

"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot asked over the silence that had just began to settle throughout the group. Those six words made the Doctor stop what he was doing and stare at the boy, in fact, everyone else looked from Elliot to the Doctor to see his reaction - all except for Alfie, for she knew what the Doctor's answer was.

"Yes," the Doctor answered, and Elliot nodded his head. "But I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say from this second onwards because we're running out of time."

The Doctor had crossed one side of the church to the other in a few seconds, stopping in front of Ambrose - who was the most sceptical one of the whole group. Alfie had sat back and was helping Rory cope, he missed her badly and was in an almost feverish state of panic.

"So tell us what to do." Ambrose told the Doctor after a few silent seconds of debating with herself.

"Thank you," the Doctor glanced at his watch quickly as he stepped backwards. "We have eight minutes to set up a line of defence, bring me every phone, every camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find."

It took a few seconds for everyone to respond, but when they did their was a frenzy of pillaging houses for what the Doctor asked for. Alfie helped whoever she could, first Rory in the cemetery, then Ambrose attaching a camcorder to a very small wind turbine. She used her inhuman speed to get the cameras and sensors to everyone to put up, before entering the church again, just before the Doctor entered.

"Right guys, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up, I need a map of the village marking where the cameras are going." The Doctor clapped Elliot on the shoulder as he walked past the boy.

"I can't do the words, I'm dyslexic." Elliot confessed modestly to the Doctor.

"Aw, that's alright, I can't make a decent meringue." the Doctor smiled at the young boy as he leaned forwards so he was at his level.

"He's not kidding," Alfie grinned jokingly after going over to Tony to see how he was getting on. "But he does make a pretty mean omelette."

The Doctor smiled over at Alfie before looking back at Elliot, "Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot."

Elliot grinned at the Doctor, then looked over at Alfie who was standing beside his grandfather, she gave him an encouraging smile before me made a move.

"Hang on, I'll help you," Alfie called, grinning at the Doctor as she slipped past him. "I know where all the cameras are."

"Six minutes, forty." the Doctor shouted after them after checking the timer as they disappeared.

Elliot drew the map as Alfie made a quick trip around the village, making sure the cameras were secure before reporting back to Elliot and pointing at places on the map where there were cameras and sensors - it saved the young boy from running about the village trying to find all the gadgets and gizmos.

"Words in quadrants, every movement sensor and trip light we've got," Tony informed the Doctor. "If it moves, we'll know."

"Good lad." the Doctor praised and pat Tony on the back before running outside, Tony didn't look amused however.

The Time lord made his way out the front and Soniced opened the driver's side door to Ambrose's blue meals on wheels van, 'PEN-Y-FAN' was written in playful writing on the side

"Oi," Ambrose called the Doctor scanned the seats and dashboard, looking for anything useful. "What're you doing?"

"Resources," the Doctor called back as he got out the Sonic Screwdriver again. "Every little helps," - Ambrose appears from behind the van and walked around behind the Doctor, in her arms are a dozen or more common every day items that could be used as weapons, including a gun and a Taser gun - "Meals on wheels, what've you got here then? Warmer in the front, refrigerated in the back?"

"Bit chilly for a hide-out, mind." Ambrose told the Doctor as he walked to the back of the van before laying she lay the weapons on the driver's seat.

"What're those?" the Doctor asked as he stood with his hands behind his back in an innocent manner.

"Like you say, every little helps." Ambrose quoted the Time lord.

"No, no weapons," the Doctor rejected the idea. "It's not the way I do things."

"You said we're supposed to be defending ourselves." Ambrose replied.

"Oh Ambrose, you're better than this, I'm asking nicely," the Doctor spoke to her as if she were a child as he stepped towards her, he looked down at her with a small smile and a look in his eyes that promised to stop her if she tried to use any of the objects. "Put them away."

The Doctor gave her a smile before turning away from her and heading back into the Church, if he had stayed behind he would seen how she eyed the could-be weapons with a defiant look.

The lock said it was less than three and a half minutes until whatever was tunnelling up reached them, the blinking dots tracking the mysterious up-comers as they came closer and closer to the where they were.

Alfie and Eliot appeared and made their ways over to the Doctor, Elliot held the map open for the Time lord to see. Alfie had helped him with whatever had needed spelling.

"Look at that, perfect," the Doctor praised as he gently slipped the map from the boy's fingers and scanned the piece of paper with his eyes. "Dyslexia never stopped De Vinci or Einstein, it's not stopping you."

"I don't understand what you're going to do." Elliot confessed as he glanced at the screen the Doctor had been staring at.

"Two phase plan," the Doctor explained. "First the cameras and censors will let us know when something's arrived."

"Second, if something _does _arrive, he uses that," Alfie continued as the Doctor lifted out his Sonic Screwdriver. "To send a Sonic pulse through the network of devices."

"A pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe." the Doctor finished as he smiled at Elliot, glancing up at Alfie and giving her a playful wink before staring at the screen for a second.

"Knock 'em out, cool." Elliot grinned and enthusiastically slapped Alfie's hand as a high five as she'd extended the limb out after seeing his excitement.

"Lovely place to grow up round here." the Doctor complemented with a smile as he switched computers, Alfie stood in place of the Doctor in front of the screen he'd been looking at previously.

"Suppose, I want to live in the city one day," Elliot said with a smile, thinking about his dream. "Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off."

"I was the same where I grew up." the Doctor smiled after taking a reading on the Sonic Screwdriver.

"Did you get away?" Elliot asked curiously.

"Yeah." the Doctor replied without thinking.

"Do you miss it?" he continued.

The Doctor turned away from the computer and stared in the young boy's eyes, he didn't need to think to hard about his answer, "So much."

"Do you miss your home?" Elliot turned and looked up into Alfie's blue and grey eyes.

"Every day." Alfie replied softly as she ruffled the boy's hair.

"Then why not go back?" Elliot asked, surely if she missed her home so much she'd go back for a visit.

"Shame," Alfie breathed out guiltily without a second thought, she knew exactly why she hadn't returned home yet, and Elliot's look became too much for her and she looked back to the screen. "I'm ashamed of something I did."

Elliot didn't question her further, seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, "Is it monsters coming?" - the Doctor glanced at Alfie before walking around the computer's and standing beside her, Elliot stepped over to meet him - "Have you met monsters before?"

"Yeah." the Doctor replied.

"Are you scared of them?" the young boy asked.

"No, they're scared of me." the Doctor said with a smile.

"Very modest of you." Alfie mumbled humorously.

"Will you really get my dad back?" Elliot questioned as he stared up into the Doctor's eyes with the amount of faith only a child could have.

"No question." the Doctor smiled as he gently took Alfie's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

It took a second and then Elliot remembered he'd forgotten something, "I left my headphones at home."

The Doctor waved him away, but Alfie slapped his shoulder, "Careless idiot," Alfie rolled her eyes and jogged after Elliot. "I'm coming with you."

"Okay, cool," Elliot smiled happily, seeing as Alfie was no longer sad. "So what's your favourite audio-book?"

The Doctor was too engrossed in monitoring the signals the computers were receiving to fully take in the departure of Elliot and Alfie. Rory was checking one of the cameras when the sky began to grow dark, he looked up worriedly as the Doctor was walking past, he caught Rory looking up and stopped.

"Who you doing?" the Doctor asked.

"It's getting darker," Rory stated as dark patches appeared in the sky. "How can it be getting dark so quickly?"

"Shutting out light from within the barricade," the Doctor concluded as he watched the patches of dark grow in size. "Trying to isolate us in the dark, which means…" - he stopped talking as the ground rumbled beneath their feet. "It's here."

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

Tony flicked on the lights in the church as the beeping coming from the computers grew louder, and louder, and more frequent.

"They're close to the surface now," Nasreen informed him as he stood beside her, she gripped his hand and they stared at each other. That was when Tony made his move, he pulled her close and kissed her. "Tony."

"Like you didn't know." Tony replied with a smile, this time Nasreen pulled him to her and kissed him back - all the while the countdown reached 00:00.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"Have you found them yet?" Alfie called upstairs as she waited at the front door for Elliot.

"Aha!" Elliot exclaimed before he came thundering down the stairs, the missing headphones hanging around his neck. "They were hanging on the back of my door."

"Good stuff, kiddo," Alfie grinned down at him. "But we better go before you mum starts to worry."

"Right." Elliot nodded his head in agreement as Alfie pulled open the door - it was dark outside.

"What, that isn't right, It's too early to be dark," Alfie thought aloud as she and Elliot stepped out of his house and she closed the door behind them. "Come on, the Doctor's bound to know what's going on." - Alfie and Elliot quickly made their way back to the church.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

The Doctor and Rory had went in search of Ambrose to tell her they needed to get into the Church, they eventually found her and they dashed to the church.

"I can't open it!" Ambrose cried in panic as she pushed against the heavy scarred wooden door that wouldn't budge, the Doctor went over and tried to help. "It keeps sticking, the wood's warped."

"Anytime you want to help." the Doctor suggested sarcastically to Rory, who had just been standing there.

"Can't you Sonic it?" he answered with a question.

"It doesn't do wood." the Doctor replied quickly.

"That is rubbish." Rory commented bluntly.

"Oi, don't dis the Sonic." the Doctor snapped defensively, moving almost threatening towards him. Rory took a step back in shock, before helping the two try to push the door open.

Finally it gave way and they all stumbled into the church and the Doctor slammed the door shut behind them, they were all relieved to be in the safety of the church. Tony and Nasreen had swirled around as they'd crashed through the door.

"See if we can get a fix." the Doctor announced as he jumped over to the computers.

The ground continued to rumble, it seemed to be getting worse as the things that had been stacked up against the wall shook and began to fall. As the Doctor tried to home in on what was coming up, the computers suddenly exploded in a chaos of sparks as the lights went out, the Doctor jumped back in shock and every one just stood there. Trying to be as quiet as they could, their breathing disrupting the silence. It lasted for only a few seconds before the Doctor and Tony jumped into action, the Time lord over to the computers and Tony to try the lights.

"No power." Tony concluded as he tried the switch.

"It's deliberate." the Doctor replied.

"What do we do now?" Rory asked as the Doctor paced a little, trying to think.

"Nothing, we've got nothing," the Doctor threw his hands out in frustration. "They sent an energy surge to wreck out systems."

"Is everyone okay?" Rory asked, his nursing skills kicking in. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Fine." Nasreen replied.

"I'm good." Tony answered.

"Me too." Ambrose agreed.

The three looked lost, not knowing what to do. They were all quiet again, until the ground shook and they gasped.

"Doctor," Rory spoke unsurely at first. "What was that?"

"It's like the holes at the drill station." Tony connected the unfamiliar setting with a comfortable one, to try and ease the tension.

The Doctor got down on his hands and knees, pressing his ear into the cold dirty stone floor, "It's coming through the final layer of Earth."

"What is?" Nasreen asked fearfully. The Doctor jumped to his feet as the ground went still.

"The banging's stopped." Tony breathed out.

"Where's Elliot?" Ambrose asked after looking around. "Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?"

"I did." the Doctor confessed after a few tense seconds had past, they all looked at him.

"Where is he?" Ambrose asked as she approached the Doctor.

"He said he was going to get headphones…" the Doctor replied cautiously.

"And you let him go?" Ambrose questioned, not believing what she was being told. "He was out there on his own."

"No, no he's not," the Doctor tried to defend himself from the angry mother. "Alfie's with him, he'll be okay."

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"Your mum's going to kill me," Alfie tried to joke as she and Elliot made their way up to the church. Something ran across the graves behind them, making the two freeze, Alfie stood in front of Elliot as she turned to look, she could smell something - it wasn't human, and had the scent of centuries clinging to it. But she seen nothing. "Lets hurry up."

They started running up and over the graves, Alfie almost lifting Elliot off his feet so they could go faster. Something hissed behind them and Alfie looked behind them to see a lizard-like humanoid chasing them. They made it through the graves and to the heavy wooden door of the church. The two banged on the door after trying the handle.

"Mum!" Elliot shouted as he banged the door with his fist. "Grandpa Tony! Let us in!"

"Doctor!" Alfie shouted as she tackled the door, it didn't budge. "Doctor! Rory! We can't get the door open!"

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"Elliot!" Ambrose rushed to the door and pulled on the handle, but the door still wouldn't budge. "He's out there! Help me!"

"Alfie! Alfie are you and Elliot okay?" the Doctor shouted out to her.

"Open the door! We've been followed by something!" her reply was as she hammered against the door.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"Open the door!" Elliot copied the white haired shifter, glancing around Alfie to see if he could spot what was coming, he heard hissing. "Mum let us in! There's something out here!"

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"Push Elliot!" Ambrose commanded desperately as all six of them pulled on the door.

"What is it Alfie? What's chasing yous?" the Doctor shouted to her.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"It's some sort of reptilian humanoid!" Alfie shouted back, she looked over her shoulder and watched something run past. "It's here! Doctor!"

"Mum!" Elliot rushed. "Hurry up!"

Alfie slowly stopped her hammering on the wooden door, and Elliot closely followed as they both turned around and stared at their masked pursuer. Whoever or whatever it was looked down at Elliot and then over to Alfie, who pushed Elliot behind her.

"Hi there." Alfie greeted with a glare as she went to punch the thing, but they were faster than she'd thought and they caught her fist, striking her harshly on the temple with the gun they'd been holding.

"Alfie!" Elliot cried as he watched the white haired shifter crumple onto the ground, the masked person turned back to him and he stared at it in fear. "Mum.

*N*O*O*R*D*I*N*A*R*Y*D*O*G*

"Come on!" Tony urged as Rory managed to pull the door open, they all rushed to see if they were alright. But there was no one standing in the hall.

"Where is he?" Ambrose demanded as she rushed out to the grave yard. The Doctor rushed out after her, looking for Alfie. "He was here! He was here! Elliot!" - she took off down the slope littered with gravestones.

"Ambrose don't go running off!" the Doctor shouted after her.

"Ambrose!" Tony barked as he chased after her.

"Elliot!" Ambrose continued to shout. "It's mum!"

"She was right here," the Doctor ground his teeth together as he looked around for clues frantically around the doorway and hallway. "Where did they go?"

* * *

><p><strong>Very, extremely late update - but better late than never, right?<strong>

**2nd last chapter of **The Hungry Earth**, one more installment and it's on to **Cold Blood**.**

**Do what you guys do best, review for me!**


	15. Another Author's Note!

**Author's Note**

Another bloody author's note, these things irritate the hell out of me. They must be used, however.

Yet not another chapter! Oh dear, school and work are clashing, leaving me very little time to write anything. On my very short and sneeky breaks, I'm thinking of ideas to finish Silver Chip (my other story), which means this is getting neglected because I don't have the time to write for it.

This is how I came up with a solution. It may shorten the chapters count by a lot, and the amount written will be shaved down, but there will be more Alfie action! More fighting, more shape shifting, more _flirting _(maybe...) and more fun! The story will be told from Alfie's point of view, not 1st person, third person with Alfie as the main focus.

But, I don't want to risk it for it just for it to turn round and burn me for not being successful. So, a poll is in order.

The first six chapters will stay the same (I think), except they'll be heavily edited because I read them the other day and my spelling sucks.

The poll will go up today, I haven't decided when I'm going to take it down. When I'm satisfied with the amount of votes maybe, or mid july - which ever comes first.

Sorry for this not-chapter, my brilliant fans for being so amazingly patient with me while I sort my life out.

Soon, soon you'll be reading so many adventures will Alfie that you'll be sick of her!

- AlfieTimewolf


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